Women over 65 are the most body confident because they have ‘better things to worry about’

Alice Sholl
·Contributor
They’re right [Photo: Pexels]
They’re right [Photo: Pexels]

As the spotlight shines on the Kardashians and Hadids, one would assume that women in their twenties and thirties are the most body confident among us.

But this isn’t so, as a recent study has revealed that it’s actually over-65s who are least worried about their bikini bodies.

Because quite frankly, they have better things to think about.

A survey of 1,300 women conducted by UK fashion retailer M&Co found that 51% of women aged over 65 said they have more important life concerns than obtaining the dream bikini body compared to 41% of women overall.

'I believe we are in a moment in time where older women's beauty has been a startling revelation. If we don't recognise it we, every one of us, deny ourselves a future to look forward to.’ – Mercy Brewer #LonelyLingerie

A post shared by Lonely Lingerie (@lonelylingerie) on Mar 11, 2017 at 2:22pm PST

18-24-year-olds, meanwhile, are the ones covering up with 56% admitting that they buy swimwear cover ups to hide ‘problem areas’.

And 72% of 18-34-year-olds wouldn’t take a swimwear selfie.

Confidence seems to increase with age, as 46% of 55-64-year-olds said they had “more important life concerns” than the perfect body – a 5% decrease when compared to over-65s.

Bikini body I'm sure we've all had that feeling where you're feeling cute at the beach but then you sit down and all of a sudden feel insecure and don't know how to sit without your tummy feeling oddly too exposed. The other day I went to the beach and would have slight moments where I felt like people were looking at my tummy and these feelings of insecurity where I wanted to hide my tummy because "it didn't look good" sitting down. But I realised that I was being silly and ruining my time at the beach and not enjoying it fully just because of this small silly thing. You really shouldn't feel that way! Everyone looks like this when they sit down! Nobody is judging you and even if someone was then that's a reflection of their inner insecurities, not yours. You are not fat. We all have fat, especially on our tummies and it's completely normal. And that fat does not make you worth any less as a person! Nobody has abs or a flat tummy 24/7 when they sit down. Don't let this idea ruin your time because it's completely normal! If you want to wear a bikini, then wear it cause life's too short not to wear what you want!! You look amazing so wear it with confidence and you'll radiate beauty! ☀️ —————————————— . . . #bikinibody #bodypositive #lawofattraction #beachtime #insecurities #bodyposi #fitnessmotivation #positiveenergy #manifest #bodyfat #allbodiesaregoodbodies #bodyacceptance #selflove #bopowarrior #allbodiesarebeautiful #fitnessjourney #weightlossjourney #bopo #vegansofig #veganfitness #bbg #positivethinking #positivelife #positivemind #loveyourself #youareenough #youmatter

A post shared by Sara Puhto (@saggysara) on Jul 11, 2017 at 5:08am PDT

But importantly, women of all ages had their priorities straight with 85% of women saying they wouldn’t give up their other halves for a year in exchange for their dream body.

Because, as the over-65 participants proved, there really are better things to worry about in life.

Click below for some swimwear that’ll leave you feeling body confident:

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