The swimsuit test puts Italians' self-esteem at risk

One in four Italians, 25%, "doesn't feel physically ready" for the summer that has just begun, and body imperfections "undermine their self-esteem (33%)." This is what experts call "bikini blues," a sort of sadness resulting from "seeing oneself imperfect in the mirror or in public." This is revealed by a study by In a Bottle (www.inabottle.it) of three thousand Italians between the ages of 20 and 55, monitoring the main online social networks, blogs, forums, and communities. According to the survey, bikini blues can also cause apprehension (23%) and discouragement (21%), to the point of even making people nervous, anxious, and intractable (52%). The waistline (68%) is the area that causes most concern.
“In today’s society,” explains Emanuela Napoli, a psychologist at the Institute of Clinical Sexology in Rome, “the investment in the body is very strong. Not being able to come close to certain standards can lead to an increase in one’s dissatisfaction and a feeling of inadequacy. The gap between the “ideal” body and how one thinks oneself to be can in fact lead to a state of worry or anxiety that over time can undermine self-esteem.” To get back in shape, 43% of Italians do physical activity at home or in the park, and 37% try to “consume more water, fruit and vegetables to purify themselves.” 15% then try not to consume alcohol and high-calorie foods, while 12% impose “a strict diet to lose weight quickly.” The model to follow, however, confirms Luca Piretta, a specialist in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy at the Campus Biomedico University of Rome, "is the Mediterranean diet, preferring water, cereals, fruit, vegetables, legumes, dried fruit and olive oil and then in smaller quantities fish, cheese and eggs, and occasionally red meat. You need to drink two liters of water a day, which can become three if you do a lot of physical activity and at high temperatures. The problem with the swimsuit test is that it always happens too late and so you rely on drastic and unhealthy remedies. This is why you need to think about it already at Christmas".