NHS director Sarah James calls the expanding mid-life bust a side effect of …

As a young woman, Sarah James was always a petite size eight with an enviably trim figure, but over the past decade the 53-year-old has started to feel rather top heavy.

‘As I’ve got older, my cup size has slowly been creeping up from a C in my 30s to an E cup. It got to the point where I’d see a photograph of myself and think: ‘Oh no, you look awful!’ ‘ says Sarah, who lives with her partner Alex, 49, in South Croydon, Surrey.

‘They look so much bigger that I started to feel self-conscious. They were getting quite painful and heavy, too.’

Heavy load: Sarah James pictured in her 20s, left and today, right. Her larger bust affects her choice of clothes

Sarah, an NHS education and development director, is only 5 ft, but no matter how hard she diets, she can’t seem to shift any weight from her bust.

‘I’ve managed to get down to 9 st 1 lb and I really hoped that the extra weight would disappear from all over, but it seems my bigger bust is here to stay,’ she says.

‘Though my partner likes my fuller figure, it impacts on my life and my choice of clothes. Blouses are a definite no-no as buttons gape and I look too chesty. I have to be very careful what I wear for work as I must look professional, so I choose dresses that aren’t fitted on the top half.’

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Earlier this year, the Great British Bra Survey – a poll of 2,000 women – showed the average bust measurement has gone up from a 36C to a 36DD, in part because of the number of breast augmentations, which is the country’s most popular cosmetic surgery, as well as the rise in obesity. But that is only part of the story. Some women are not choosing to have bigger breasts nor are they particularly eating more. Rather, once they hit a certain age, they are finding themselves victim of a common – but rarely talked about – phenomenon: the curse of the burgeoning middle-aged bust.

For it seems that while men are often prone to a pot belly post-40, women are more likely to put on weight in a far more visible place – just at a point in their lives when the last thing they want is a heaving bosom. For those like Sarah, who have always been in proportion, it can be mortifying to start sprouting an embonpoint to rival Hattie Jacques in the Carry On Doctor films.

But she is far from alone.

Sarah James, 53, an NHS education and development director, is only 5 ft yet wears a bra with an E cup size

According to women’s health expert Dr Marilyn Glenville, author of Fat Around The Middle, one in five women will see a significant hike in their breast size at the time of the menopause, with many increasing by two cup sizes or even more.

No wonder specialist bra fitter Chantelle Crabb, of Curvy Kate, a lingerie firm that caters for the fuller bust, advises that middle-aged women should get their bra size checked every few months ‘to make sure that they are keeping up with the alterations to their body’.

‘It’s true that women of a certain age often struggle with the changes to their bodies,’ she says.

‘Breasts can get larger before or during the menopause as the distribution of fat cells change. Many women hate this, usually because they think larger breasts will make them look matronly.’

MIGHTY

Women in Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway have the biggest cup sizes in the world

There are several factors that could be responsible for this mid-life phenomenon.

As women approach the menopause, oestrogen levels fluctuate and the breasts can go through a change called involution, where the milk- producing glands shut down and breast tissue is replaced by fat, which is softer, so breasts don’t feel as firm.

Testosterone levels also drop at this stage of life and that may affect fat distribution around the body, says Dr Shazia Malik, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Portland Hospital, London.

If oestrogen levels are then relatively higher compared with testosterone, it could well affect fat distribution.

This could help explain why some women start storing fat up top when they haven’t tended to before.

Marianne Berry, 44, an IT manager from Milton Keynes, Bucks, was a 32D in her 20s, but is now a 36F

‘Women’s bodies can often change shape in their 40s and breast composition does become more fatty,’ says Dr Malik.

‘It may be down to a change in the balance of hormones in later life. Though the average age of the menopause is 51, ovarian function fluctuates much earlier, meaning there’s less oestrogen at some times, but higher levels at others due to an increase in another hormone called follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in the body.

‘Why this may affect breast tissue is unknown.’

To make matters worse, bigger midlife busts are more prone to sagging as the skin loses elasticity and sag-preventing collagen starts to give way.

Marianne in 2000 on holiday in Jamaica. She thinks that her breast size increase may be down to genetics

This droopiness even has a medical name, breast ptosis, and a woman with heavy breasts may see her nipples drop by as much as 4 in.

But intriguingly, it’s not just down to the hormonal and physiological changes that come with ageing. Stress can be a factor, too.

‘We know that people who have higher levels of stress hormones such as cortisol are more likely to put on weight. For women, this may mean around the breasts,’ says Dr Malik.

And inevitably, diet – accompanied by a slowing metabolism – plays a part.

That extra glass of wine or slice of cake that you could get away with when you were younger may lead to weight gain where you least want it.

Marianne dislikes her increased breast size – it restricts her fashion choices and she she lives in loose tunics

Certainly Sarah has found she has to be a lot more careful about how much she eats.

‘Losing weight after the age of 40 is much more difficult and I find that I put it on more easily, too,’ she says. ‘I can put on 4 lb in one week.’

While experts agree it’s easier to put on weight around your breasts, they are still puzzled as to why women find it so hard to lose weight from their top halves.

‘I’ve no idea why it’s so very difficult to lose weight from my boobs nowadays,’ says Sarah. ‘It may be that I’m approaching menopause.

‘My mother thinks it’s to do with my generation of women being on the Pill for so many years. She says that in her day, women didn’t have nearly such big busts. She could be right.’

Given that a large breast can weigh as much as 3.3 lb, it’s a lot of extra weight to be carrying round. Not only does this affect some women’s self-esteem, it can cause backache and make exercise difficult – which is hardly surprising given that a G-cup breast has been found to bounce 5½ in with every running stride.

HOW TO GO BUST

The average British woman spends £2,700 on bras in her lifetime

Many women battling the mid-life breast bulge don’t help themselves by wearing an ill- fitting bra, says Chantelle Crabb, who is known as the Bra Whisperer thanks to her ability to judge a woman’s correct bra size simply by looking at her.

Of the 2,000 middle-aged women Chantelle has helped over the past month alone, only 1 per cent were wearing the correct size.

‘Many women complain about sagging and back pain or that their bra is hurting them. These issues can be remedied just by wearing a correctly fitting bra.

‘Wearing a tighter back band and a larger cup size will allow breasts to be lifted and rounded, giving a much more youthful appearance.

‘It can also have a dramatic effect on improving back pain and posture, not to mention boosting self-esteem. A well- fitting bra will even make big boobs look smaller.’ Marianne Berry, 44, an IT manager from Milton Keynes, Bucks, was a 32D in her 20s, but is now a 36F.

‘I don’t like it at all,’ says Marianne, who is married to Paul, 45, who works for a car manufacturer.

Ali Bates, 52, a clinical psychologist from Brentwood, Essex, recently went up to a 36C from a 32A

‘The first thing anyone notices about me is my breasts and I can’t get clothes to fit. I wouldn’t say I’m overweight as I’ve lost 10lb since last Christmas, but none of it has gone from my bust.

‘It may be a hormonal issue. I am definitely perimenopausal because my doctor has diagnosed me. Or it may be genetic – my maternal grandmother was certainly big-breasted.

‘I have to look on the positive side and think I’ll be the granny who gives good cuddles. But it means I can no longer wear anything too fitted. I seem to live in loose tunic tops.’

Looking to your granny’s figure to predict your future curves could be a wise move for younger women as some experts believe genetics may well be the key to the middle-aged bust.

‘Genetic factors affect body composition and metabolism,’ says dietician Anna Daniels, of the British Dietetic Association.

Ali says that she’s been flat-chested all her life and loves her new curvier shape. She says that having a bigger chest has given her more confidence and she now feels more womanly than she did before

‘The breasts – as well as stomach, thighs and hips – can often be the first places that women noticeably gain weight.

‘As we get older, our metabolism slows so women of this age might find it a lot harder to lose weight, but to what extent is down to the individual.

‘They may have to adapt their both diet and exercise regime dramatically to achieve their desired shape.’

D r Marilyn Glenville adds: ‘If you’re finding a bigger bust a problem, exercise can help.

‘Muscle is metabolically active, meaning that we burn more fat the more muscle we have. As breasts are mainly fatty tissue, any reduction in fat generally on the body will help to reduce the bust, too.’

Some women enjoy the change of gaining bigger breasts as they hit middle age

There are those, of course, who relish the chance to be busty for the first time in their lives.

For most of her life Ali Bates, 52, has been a flat-chested 32A, but over the past two years she has noticed her bra size increase to a 36C and she says that she couldn’t be happier.

‘When I got married in 2008 and went to a shop to be professionally measured for a bra, I was upset when the woman looked at me and said: ‘Some women come in and expect us to perform miracles,’  says Ali, a clinical psychologist from Brentwood, Essex.

‘I ended up wearing two lots of so-called chicken fillets in my bra for my wedding day.’

Her figure changed a few years ago. ‘I went through a traumatic time when my husband left and I lost a huge amount of weight through stress,’ she says.

‘I’ve put on a stone-and-a-half since then and it’s all gone to my boobs. I’m two cup sizes bigger than I was when I got married and I couldn’t be happier.

‘It may be that I’m going through the menopause. My periods stopped two years ago and I’ve experienced hot flushes, but I’m not taking HRT so I don’t know if it’s the natural hormonal changes affecting me.

‘My new partner Mike has noticed a difference even in the past six months and some of my friends have asked if I’ve actually gone ahead with the boob job I was thinking about.

‘I’m still a size 12 so am happy, but having a bigger chest gives me more confidence.

‘I’d always felt quite self- conscious about my flat chest. Now that I’m curvier I certainly feel more womanly.’

…AND THE BEST BRAS TO MINIMISE BOUNCE 

Red spot bra, £30, bravissimo.com, left, green balcony bra, £25, marksand spencer.com

Alina bra, £65, Stella McCartney, netaporter.com, left, deco bra, £34, freyalingerie.com

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