Eighty per cent of women feel too self-conscious to wear a bikini and a shocking one in four would consider having plastic surgery to achieve the perfect body for the beach according to a new survey.
Almost half of the women questioned also admitted that they would usually plan to spend over two months preparing for their first bikini outing of the year!
This mostly consisted of dieting but surprisingly it was the more mature woman aged 45-54 who was most likely to hop on the sunbed with 1 in 5 admitting to doing so before their holidays.
The number of women not wanting to wear a bikini rose even further in the youngest group questioned with 85 per cent of 16-24 year-olds and saying they would choose not to wear a bikini because they are too self-conscious. What is happening to the confidence of our young women?
Denise Van Outen, a regular on the worlds sexiest women lists admits the pressure to slim down for the beach gets to everybody, especially normal women who dont want to starve themselves to catwalk proportions.
The size zero debate goes on and the pressures of being thin and the latest diet fads dominate the media, but in reality the real women who enjoy great tasting food, choose products with sensible health credentials and maintain an active lifestyle are the healthiest among us.
Denise is one of these real women. She said: 'I am a normal woman and have no desire to be a size zero but I can really sympathise with these women who want to stay covered up on the beach. There is so much pressure for women to slim down and look perfect before they bare all in a bikini.
Denise added: Every woman I know has issues with some part of their body and I'm no different. I do think you become more comfortable with yourself as you get older - but that doesn't mean you feel 100% happy with your body in a bikini.
"The results of the survey are shocking in some respects - it's really sad that the younger generation feel too self conscious to wear a bikini.
The report commissioned by Del Monte Smoothie Ices also showed that bikinis are the one area of fashion that is lacking in followers with only 1% of women choosing the latest design preferring to make their choice based on their own body shape.
Londoners are the biggest spenders with many women in London spending over £50 on a single bikini whilst the girls in the North West went for quantity and owned an average of 10 bikinis each.
Are you confident enough to wear your bikini with pride? Or do you hide behind your towel on the beach? Let us know
Caz Moss- Female First
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