If you travel to Italy, particularly its less touristy areas and smaller villages, you may notice a surprising amount of foot traffic in the evenings. This isn’t simply because Italians tend to go to bed late, after a leisurely-paced dinner comprising multiple courses (although that’s also custom).
Many Italians venture outside to partake in the traditional passeggiata, or evening stroll. (In Spain, a similar practice is known as el paseo.) For this ritual, the point isn’t to get from point A to point B, burn calories or accumulate daily steps ― though those may be secondary effects ― but rather to see and be seen as part of the fabric of the local community.
When Chloe Yelena Miller lived in Italy with her husband and child, she told HuffPost, “We’d see groups of families (with kids, adults and older adults) strolling through the town, stopping for a gelato or pastry, looking in the shop windows and generally being together in multi-generational groups. It was usually busiest when the weather was good or on the weekend. It was always particularly lovely under the Christmas lights.”
Miller, who now resides in Washington, D.C., remarked upon the degree of multigenerational harmony she observed among those who gathered at this hour in Florence’s Piazza Savonarola, where a kiosk sells snacks until 1:30 a.m. When the family went out around 9 p.m., Miller said, “Our child, then 4 and not yet speaking Italian, would just run around with other kids in the piazza kicking a soccer ball.”
“When we first got there, he’d pick the ball up with his hands. Instead of getting mad, the big kids would show him how to kick it, and they’d all run around the piazza together. I remember noticing that older folks would kick it back to the kids (never getting mad if the ball hit them or anything) and so would various groups of teenagers.”
This kind of welcoming, inclusive community isn’t something that happens only on special occasions, but rather the product of a sustained daily habit ― one proudly practiced by generations of Italians.
While your local ice cream shack likely closes before the early hours of the morning, and not every neighborhood is designed for pick-up futbol, even early-to-bed Americans can partake in this Italian habit simply by opening their doors and wandering outside after dinner. Here are some of the benefits:
Walking after dinner aids digestion.
While a big meal may leave you feeling like taking a nap, there are digestive benefits to heading out for a walk instead. In a study of college students diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome — which can cause diarrhea, constipation or alternating episodes of the two — researchers found that the more patients walked, the fewer IBS symptoms they experienced. This may be because exercise stimulates the movement of the stomach and intestines.
Walking has various health benefits.
We all know that exercise is good for your heart. It turns out that this holds true even in small, doable doses. According to a special report published by Harvard Health in 2017, walking 2.5 hours per week, or only 21 minutes per day, lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30%. One study showed that six months of regular walking led to lower blood pressure in previously sedentary adults with hypertension.
And when it comes to regulating blood sugar, the best time to walk is after a meal. This study found that “light-intensity walking” after eating had a positive effect on blood sugar and insulin levels in comparison to standing or remaining sedentary after a meal.
Walking has benefits for mental health, too.
Scientists aren’t exactly sure what the mechanism is, but exercise has been proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety. During exercise, your body produces brain chemicals called endorphins that make you feel good, and these may help stabilize mood overall.
Many people report that they are able to think through problems more effectively by taking a walk, often saying that getting up and moving around outside works to clear their mind.
Christopher Hopefitch via Getty Images
Being outdoors also has health benefits.
Even if you pause to chat with a neighbor (or enjoy a gelato), just being outdoors and disconnected from your devices, has a positive impact on your mental health. Getting outside and being exposed to “green space” such as parks, gardens or simply your backyard, has been shown to reduce levels of stress as well as symptoms of depression and anxiety, and to improve focus in children with ADHD.
Making connections in the community combats loneliness and isolation.
Exercise can prevent physical and mental health issues, and it turns out that socialization is protective in both these ways, too.
“According to the CDC, prolonged social isolation can affect both mental health and physical health, increase our risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, Type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety,” Timothy Bono, a psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told HuffPost. “Some researchers have equated the effects of chronic loneliness with those of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
“Psychological stress can lead to significant physical stress in our bodies,” he continued. “Dealing with the psychological stress of loneliness requires a level of physiological work that can play out in physical health conditions.”
While combating social isolation can feel like a daunting goal, particularly when so many of us spend much of the day online, Bono said that small habits are the best way to make a change in your daily life.
Of the passeggiata, Bono said, “What’s key about a tradition like this is that it is providing consistent interaction with others. It is a low-cost, low-effort way to ensure a healthy dose of social connection.”
When a habit is simple and easy, you’re more likely to engage in it frequently — and therefore to experience a positive impact.
It can strengthen family relationships.
Parenting experts often advise that families prioritize having regular — and tech-free — meals together. Sharing a table gives family members frequent opportunities to check in with each other and connect. Kids who grow up having family meal time have better physical health and eating habits, and the mental health benefits are striking.
“Regular family dinners are associated with lower rates of depression, and anxiety, and substance abuse, and eating disorders, and tobacco use, and early teenage pregnancy, and higher rates of resilience and higher self-esteem,” Anne Fishel of the Family Dinner Project told the Harvard EdCast.
Why not extend the daily ritual with an after-dinner stroll, or step out later for a walk with someone who couldn’t make it to the table? Parents often find that kids, and particularly teens, are more liable to open up when they are engaged in an activity and/or not forced to make eye contact. You may be surprised by what a family member (of any age) is willing to share while walking alongside you.
It can help make your community safer.
As Miller discovered with her family during their after-dinner strolls in Florence, regular interactions with neighbors help build a sense of community. They also help make a safer one.
We’re all more likely to head out for a walk when we feel safe on the streets. Research shows that this relationship goes both ways: more walkable neighborhoods tend to have lower crime rates.
And who knows? When the neighbors see you out for a walk, they may be inspired to do the same.