Big breasts sweat less, a recent study by the University of Southampton has found.

The research assessed 22 women of varying ages and breast sizes and identified a correlation between breast size and sweat production during exercise.

These women jogged in a warm environment whilst researchers measured sweat production and heat generation of their bodies, as well as the number of sweat glands across their breasts.

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Sweat production is largely determined by factors like body size, metabolism, and environment; however, the team proposed that breast size could also affect sweat production and comfort during physical activities.

The study, orchestrated by Hannah Blount, a postgraduate researcher in thermal physiology at the University's ThermosenseLab, discovered that larger breasts have fewer sweat glands, resulting in less perspiration during exercise.

Ms Blount said: "Over 85 per cent of women deem a sports bra an essential piece of equipment for exercise, but it’s actually really hard to find one that’s comfortable and supportive, so a lot of women struggle with this.

"Our 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.

"Specifically, we 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.

"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 breast.

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

The study took place in the TechnosenseLab's advanced climate chamber, at the National Institute for Health and Care Research Southampton Clinical Research Facility, at University Hospital Southampton.

Participants were asked to jog for 45 minutes in 32-degree Celsius heat, while researchers monitored their breast sweat output.

3D scanning technology calculated breast surface area, and sweat gland density was measured using iodine-infused paper that reacts with sweat chemicals when placed on the skin.