21st November 2007
British women have the largest breasts in Europe and they are getting bigger with each generation.The average bust size in the UK has increased in a decade from 34B to 36C and Marks and Spencer has led the way amongst high street retailers in servicing the demand for larger bra sizes. They have announced they are increasing their current range by three sizes up to a J cup. "We noticed a definite trend among younger women needing a larger cup size, but these sizes are more difficult to come by, and up until now women had to seek out specialist fitters to get their bras custom-made." says Soozie Jenkins, head of M&S's lingerie design.
Leading online retailer figleaves.com is also providing larger sizes from brands such as Freya, Lejaby and Panache.
But why is it happening? Undoubtedly silicone plays a role with over ten thousand cosmetic implants being carried out every year. However other causes are sited which may have a role.
Breast tissue is very sensitive to hormones with some women having a noticeable increase in breast size as they approach their period. This has led to speculation that the contraceptive pill is linked to the increase with some people going as far as to claim that oestrogen that gets into the water supply from women taking the might be a factor. However, there is less oestrogen in the pill now than there used to be.Some people speculate that artificial hormones used in food production could be a factor but nobody has produced any research that supports this and similar levels of hormones are used in other countries.
So despite the rush by the daily papers to pick up on Marks & Spencer announcement with stories of bigger boobs and all of the pseudo scientific speculation to explain the phenomenon is seems we are simply carrying more body fat in general than ever before. This is supported by the less headline grabbing fact that waist and hip sizes have increased in proportion.
Thanks to our reader Simone in St Helens, England for bringing this story to our attention. If you spot something you think we should feature please drop us a line at LingerieUK@gmail.com.