Every day, each of our choices and habits – from nutrition to sleep quality, from physical activity to mental serenity – contributes to a long and fascinating journey: longevity. What if, in addition to lifespan, we could also enrich its quality? This question, full of opportunities, is at the heart of "Età senza Età" (Age Without Age), the new edition of the Nestlé Observatory, with which the company reaffirms its mission to support physical and mental well-being, encouraging eating habits that promote active and satisfying longevity for everyone.

“The Age Without Age” is an investigation that spans four generations, exploring how young people, adults and seniors can unite on a journey of health and well-being as we transition from an old-age society to a long-life society. It is certainly a holistic look because, as previous studies by the Nestlé Observatory also confirm, emotions influence how much and what we choose to eat, and the food we consume can nourish both the body and the spirit, in a virtuous circle in which health and well-being feed each other.

On the perception of age and aging that we Italians have, analyzing the results, the ironic question "old to whom?" arises spontaneously: 51% of Italians feel younger than their age, with a concentration between 55-64 years (58%) and 65+ years (69%), a sign of a strong desire for continuity and mental vitality in the older age groups. 63% of 55-64 year olds feel mentally younger, and this percentage increases to 69% among 65+. However, in terms of physical efficiency, only 40% of 55-64 year olds feel younger, indicating that physical decline is perceived more markedly than mental decline. For 36% of Italians over sixty, old age begins when you stop making plans.

Nic Palmarini , director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) in the United Kingdom, CEO of Voice Italia Social Enterprise and Co-Founder of Edelman Longevity Lab, comments: “Commitment, participation, contributing to creating a better world for oneself or others, or – simply – having a goal that can challenge us and place us in the future represents a crucial driver. It is what the English call 'purpose' and which we could try to translate as "meaning of life". We talk about it every day to keep our mind active, to encourage us to get up from the sofa or stop scrolling Instagram, but here it is black and white: it is what establishes the boundary between feeling old or not”.

Even though we feel younger than our chronological age, we are all worried about getting older. And while over 45% of the youngest, 18-34 year olds, are anxious about physical appearance and aesthetic changes, for 50% of 35-45 year olds and 55% of 45-54 year olds, maintaining physical strength is the central concern. While it is on aspects related to a deep sense of dignity that Italians' anxieties are heightened: the fear of cognitive and mental decline, and of the loss of autonomy are felt by everyone, becoming a real concern for a high percentage of the 55-64 and 65+ generations.

Despite the concept of 'ageism' which sees generations as a status in themselves, there are several things that all ages have in common, especially the concern for loneliness and isolation, which is even more marked in the younger generations (18-34 years, 27% and 35-44, 21%), while in the more advanced ages, it affects 19% and even 17% of those over 65, almost as proof of a newfound 'serendipity'.

Palmarini explains: “There is no 'them' and 'us'. Those elderly people who you think are who knows what or who knows who, resemble someone we know very well. The things we fear about old age, for example, are practically the same at any age. I could sum them up with the word 'dignity'. We want our dignity as people to be preserved and recognized - to be autonomous, to not become an object, to have the possibility of being aware of our choices thanks to a mind that works. The myth according to which loneliness or isolation are fears of the elderly is also finally dispelled, when clearly it is one of the things that worries young people the most”.