LOCKDOWN has been blamed for many things, but the rise of the ‘Covid dad bod’ is something we should be celebrating.

For thousands of men across the country to befall this fate isn’t catastrophic, as reports make out, it’s a good thing. My message to men is: embrace your new shape.

Blokes have been piling on the pounds during lockdown. They’ve developed doughy bellies that slightly overhang their undies and wobble when they’re rushing from the sofa to the kitchen on hearing the microwave ping.

Also called the Curse of the Covid dad, such bellies are the result of months of inactivity at home which has seen men who were accustomed to spending hours at the gym let themselves go a little.

Actor Will Smith recently admitted he’s in the ‘worst shape of my life’ after months of lockdown restrictions. Sharing a picture on social media, he has vowed to ditch his dad bod as he plans a new fitness series to run on YouTube.

And last year Top Gear host Paddy McGuiness joked that he could ‘no longer see my penis’ after failing to keep up with his fitness regime during lockdown.

I admit to never before having heard the phrase ‘dad bod’, and was surprised to find it has its own Wikipedia page, complete with a photo of a bloke with a bit of a paunch.

The phrase describes a body shape particular to middle-aged men and is apparently achieved by combining semi-regular exercise with a laidback attitude and a healthy appetite for pizza and beer. That applies to most men - I married one of them.

My husband has had a dad bod for as long as I can remember. He gets a reasonable amount of exercise both at home and at work, but empties the fridge of its contents most days, and is no stranger to a pint.

I like the way he looks. True, he could do with losing a few pounds - as indeed could I - but I wouldn’t swap him for a bloke with a toned, ripped body. In fact, I find bodies that are clearly the product of extensive workouts unappealing.

Dad bods are cuddly and homely. The phrase evokes a warmth and approachability that equates with such a physique.

I’m not ashamed to say I like dad bods, and I’m not alone. In a survey by Dating.com some 75 per cent of respondents said that they preferred the soft and round male body type to a more toned one. If I were a man with a newly-acquired dad bod, I’d hang on to it, it might do wonders for your sex appeal.

Of course piling on weight in middle age is not all down to lockdown. In middle age your metabolism slows down and unless you’re spending hours every day doing sit-ups and star jumps, you’re not going to have a washboard stomach and flab-free buttocks. It’s the same for both sexes. And - whether male or female - while we can blame Covid for many things, we can’t say it caused our liking of burgers, chips and a pint or three of Tetley. We loved all those things well before lockdown. If anything, lockdown has made us eat more healthily. With furlough, and homeworking, we have had more time to prepare meals from scratch using fresh ingredients.

What I would like to know is do the men who have developed dad bods miss spending hours in the gym? Without that constant pressure to hone and tone, I’d like to bet they are a lot happier.

And while we are on the subject of dad bods, what about mum bods? There are plenty of muffin tops attached to torsos of middle-aged mums. I have certainly got a mum bod (although I’m veering towards old age) and I’m not blaming lockdown at all.