The start of the 2026 school year confirms several underlying shifts in the field of health and well-being in France. Deteriorated sleep, mental health at work under strain, evolving sports practices: the weak signals from previous years are transforming into consolidated data. Here are the key areas that deserve close attention this month.
Chronic Sleep Debt: An Early Indicator of Psychological Risk
The INSV/OpinionWay 2025-2026 barometers document an unambiguous finding: the average sleep duration of the French remains significantly below pre-Covid levels. About a quarter of adults sleep less than six hours per night, and no signs of recovery are emerging.
The change in perspective is clinical. Sleep debt, daytime sleepiness, and the rise in anxiety disorders are now correlated in recent publications. We observe that sleep has ceased to be a comfort parameter and has become a marker of psychological risk comparable, in its predictive value, to a standard metabolic assessment.
The Health and Well-Being news regularly relay this data. The implications simultaneously affect city medicine, psychiatry, and occupational medicine, justifying monthly monitoring.
Long Absences for Psychological Disorders: Malakoff Humanis Data
Psychological disorders are the leading cause of absences longer than 30 days in the private sector, ahead of musculoskeletal disorders. The Malakoff Humanis absenteeism barometer, built on a panel of 3.8 million employees, measures an increase of about a quarter in the absenteeism rate since 2019.
For occupational physicians and HR services, this shift invalidates the traditional reading framework focused on MSDs, lower back pain, and accidents. The long absence curves call for a different analytical framework.
SME-TPE Leaders: A Persistent Blind Spot
These profiles do not have access to the standard workplace prevention system. They consult late.
- The chronic stress of SME-TPE leaders is documented as a cardiovascular risk factor and a cause of burnout, without an institutional safety net comparable to that of employees.
- One in two employees refrains from taking sick leave for psychological reasons, according to cross-referenced data from several recent barometers, which further underestimates the scale of the phenomenon.
We recommend a cross-reading of these indicators: deteriorated sleep, psychological absenteeism, and leader stress fall under the same continuum.
Physical Activity in September: Data from the “September Moves” Initiative
The Ministry of Health is renewing the “September Moves” initiative, a month dedicated to physical and sports activity. Beyond post-summer awareness, the interest of the initiative lies in the practice data it aggregates.
The sports practice of the French is evolving towards short and autonomous formats, distancing from the traditional club model. Recent surveys show a diversification of popular disciplines, with a rise in gentle activities (brisk walking, yoga, pilates) at the expense of traditional team sports.
Prescription of Adapted Physical Activity: An Underutilized Lever
The medical prescription of adapted physical activity (APA) remains marginal in city medicine. The lack of time and orientation tools hinders general practitioners from implementing structured programs. The “September Moves” initiative partially compensates through public awareness, but the integration of APA into the care pathway remains insufficient given the documented benefits on chronic diseases.
Wellness Practitioners: Increased Attendance, Fragmented Regulation
Complementary medicine practitioners (naturopaths, sophrologists, osteopaths) are seeing an increase in attendance. This dynamic accompanies the rise in anxiety disorders and the search for alternatives to medication treatments.
The absence of a unified regulatory framework for most of these disciplines remains the main point of friction. The risk of therapeutic drift persists, especially for patients with serious conditions (cancer, autoimmune disease) who sometimes delay conventional treatment in favor of these approaches.
- The regulatory status varies significantly by discipline: osteopathy has a professional title regulated by decree, while sophrology and naturopathy do not have a comparable framework.
- Several mutual insurance companies now offer reimbursement packages for these consultations, which helps to broaden demand.
This September 2026 confirms that sleep, mental health at work, physical activity, and the use of complementary practitioners form an integrated set to be read together. Monitoring these indicators month after month allows for anticipating shifts before they translate into public health emergencies.
