Women with big breasts sweat less, research reveals

Though it may sound normal to think that women with large breast size sweat a lot, a study has revealed otherwise. The study revealed that the breast size of a lady affects how much she sweats. It said women with big breasts sweat less as compared to their peers with smaller breasts.

While the common perception for decades has been that the ones with big breasts sweat more, researchers at Southampton University have proved otherwise. According to the study’s findings, “local sweat rates decreased linearly as breast surface area increased.”

Hannah Blount, one of the researchers said they “were interested in understanding how sweat gland densities and local sweat rates change across women of different breast sizes, as that determines how much sweat ends up in the sports bra.”

She described the finding as “exciting” while adding that the knowledge would be valuable in “sportswear design”.

“Here we got the most exciting finding, as our results indicated that larger-breasted women presented fewer sweat glands, and so they produced less sweat across their breasts.

“This fundamental knowledge is something we can now use to inform sportswear design that considers the needs of women of varying breast sizes,” Blount.

The purpose of the study was to examine how “differences in breast surface area impact sweat gland density and output across the breast of healthy women during running in the heat.”

Researchers observed 22 women of different breast sizes and aged between 22 and 55.  The participants were observed while they ran in a warm climatic chamber. Each participant jogged for 45 minutes in temperatures of about 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit). The study’s findings were published in June 2024 in the Journal of Experimental Physiology.

Blount added that their “thought process was to look at how sports bras offer support to women and comfort to women of varying breast sizes, especially in hot conditions, when women are more likely to experience issues like chafing and significant sweat accumulation in the bra,” the Medical Xpress reported.