Women who have very large breasts, would exercise less frequently than others, on the other hand, those who had a breast reduction would practice more sports than before.
- Women who have large breasts do less physical exercise than others.
- Women who have had a breast reduction exercise more after the operation.
- The study authors call for better management of breast reduction.
Breast size is a decisive factor in the practice of physical activity, according to a study published in the journal Journal of Reconstructive Surgery (JPRAS) Open. Indeed, the more women would have large breasts, the less they would do physical exercise, and vice versa.
Women with large breasts don’t do high-intensity exercise
In their work, the researchers wanted to measure the impact of breast size on women’s sports habits and the impact of breast reduction surgery. For this, they used data from 1,987 women registered with Parkrun Limited, an organization offering races in the United Kingdom.
The women were over 18 years old, had no history of breast cancer and had to answer a survey (questions about their exercise habits, breast size, breast modification surgery, etc.). 56 of them had undergone breast reduction.
The first lesson from this study is that women with larger breasts played sports less frequently and avoided high-intensity exercise, compared to those with smaller breasts.
Breast reduction helps to exercise more
Then, the second observation of the researchers is that the women who had undergone breast reduction had more pleasure in doing physical exercises and therefore participated in them more. They also had better performances than before.
“Women who had undergone breast reduction reported an overall increase in frequency, enjoyment, and willingness to exercise in a group setting“, explains Dr. Claire Baxter, author of the study, in a communicated. Our study found that breast size affects exercise habits and that breast reduction surgery changes their willingness to exercise.“
The authors plead for better access to breast reduction and better care by health systems. In France, the bilateral reduction mastoplasty is covered by health insurance, if the resection weight is greater than or equal to 300 grams per breast.
