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The health benefits of regular physical activity are well documented, yet many women face barriers (financial, physical, safety, time) to incorporating exercise into their lives. Australian researchers examined a less-recognized barrier: physical discomfort because of breast size. A total of 355 women (age range, 18–75) volunteered to have breast volumes measured by three-dimensional scan; to complete validated questionnaires about activity frequency, intensity, and duration; and to answer a query about whether and how their breast size affected participation in physical activity.
Breast size was categorized as small (98 women), medium (132), large (82), or hypertrophic (43); in >90% of women with large or hypertrophic breasts, body-mass ind…