I was reading the New York Times today (ooh la la) and being a plastic surgeon, the title “How Breast Size Affects How Women Exercise” drew my attention (today is March 8).
This was a summary of a study out of Australia, and for those of you with short attention spans, let me summarize for you the findings.
“As women’s breast sizes grew, their participation in physical activity declined, particularly if that exercise was vigorous.”
This study was published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, September 2018, from Australia.
Study:
- 355 Australian women ages 18-75
- 4 breast size groups (this was done not by them telling the cup size, but by a volumetric measurement)
- Survey to assess their participation in physical activity in the previous week
- Asked whether their breast size affected their participation.
- Controlled for age.
Findings:
- Women with large breasts participated in significantly less physical activity per week
- particularly in vigorous activity
- a high percentage of women thought breast size affected the amount and intensity of their physical activity
My thoughts?
I do a ton of breast reductions and breast lifts. For sure when you have heavy and/or floppy breasts, it impairs your ability to exercise, particularly bouncy activities like running. (When is the last time you saw a woman who won a marathon with large breasts?) In the article, they included a 2013 questionnaire for women in the London Marathon, and more than 1/3 of them told the researchers their breasts often felt sore. I know most women with a D cup or larger wear industrial bras to run or they double bra- wear two bras at one time- to try to give more support.
Interestingly, another study done a long time ago found 25% of women who had breast reductions would lose weight without really thinking about it. This weight loss is real, and I think likely tangled in this issue- when large or drooing breasts, there is difficulty of exercise.
So ladies, know if you are a D or larger, or really droopy, science is indicating your exercise levels will go up if you fix it.