In Spain, the 'bikini operation' is particularly popular, as it is a country surrounded by beaches and with a climate that allows you to enjoy them for longer than in most of its other European neighbours.
A study by the insurance comparison site Acierto in 2021 revealed that, as summer approaches, some five million people were on some kind of diet. This is almost one in ten Spaniards.
A few years ago, the Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe in Valencia publicly expressed its concern about the increase in excessively restrictive diets in the months before summer, which cause weight loss in a time that is clearly unnatural.
However, due to aesthetic pressures, it is intended to achieve in one month what has not been achieved in the other eleven, but maintaining a healthy weight thanks to a good diet and regular exercise should be a constant .
Social pressure to conform to beauty standards can lead to dangerous behavior and serious damage to physical and mental health.
Bikini operation: risk factors and dangers
Miracle diets, according to the Spanish Foundation of Dietitians-Nutritionists, are those that propose rapid, almost miraculous results; they exaggerate or distort the scientific reality of a nutrient or food and base their recommendations on a single study or on work carried out with few people. These characteristics coincide with those of the proposals chosen by those who decide to start the bikini operation, whose main objective is to lose the kilos gained throughout the year quickly.
"One of the most well-known disadvantages is the rebound or yo-yo effect," says nutritionist and creator of the blog Nutrition is the new black Victoria Lozada, who claims that 95% of people who start a diet do not finish it. "Not only do we regain the weight, but, according to recent evidence, we even end up weighing more than when we started," she says. But there are other physical consequences, such as the alteration of leptin and ghrelin levels, the hormones responsible for sending satiety signals; or muscle loss.
Operation Bikini threatens your mental health
Imagine the frustration that some people may feel when, after making a huge effort to lose weight, they end up maintaining or even gaining weight… this situation can have a very negative impact on their self-esteem.
According to some studies, as the prevalence of overweight and obesity increases worldwide, the prevalence of dieting is also increasing: 40% of adults have tried to lose weight at some point in the last five years.
Dietician and nutritionist Diana Díaz Rizzolo already pointed this out in an article published by the magazine of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya: “We have the false impression of having knowledge on issues related to nutrition and metabolism. In addition, we want everything now and we understand that living by overeating and then compensating for it is normal, and even healthy.”
This openly negligent attitude reaches its climax with miracle diets and Operation Bikini, that reckless strategy of sacrificing health for a supposed improvement in self-esteem when the time comes to put on a bikini or swimsuit on the beach and show off a perfect body... which it never is.
And the mental health problems associated with these fad diets are a real threat, especially in the case of young people who can develop eating disorders by following erroneous dietary guidelines in search of that impossible ideal always present in advertising and social networks.
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