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I've heard this one repeated by women I know a few times, but it sounds like a product of confirmation bias to me. Is there supporting evidence for the claim that if you don't wear a bra you should expect saggier boobs at old age?

Kit Sunde
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    I'd be surprised if the research has been done. If you're keen to conduct it, I suggest a prospective longitudinal study, giving the subjects a special one-boob bra. Given the elasticity of the skin, though, I think it should stand to reason that you'd see this effect to *some* extent. – David Hedlund May 12 '11 at 09:09
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    they certainly stop them from sagging. – Jodrell May 12 '11 at 12:14
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    "Is there _supporting_ evidence..." - well phrased, indeed. – peteorpeter May 12 '11 at 15:35
  • @peteorpeter - That's unintentionally funny after I've mentioned confirmation bias in the first sentence. I refuse to edit it now. :) – Kit Sunde May 12 '11 at 15:47
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    I figured (no pun, I swear!) that was the case. I fully support (arrgh!) your decision to stick to your guns (oh come on). – peteorpeter May 12 '11 at 15:52
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    @Monkey, this thread is going down south quickly. – Kevin Peno May 12 '11 at 22:53
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    They keep my moobs from sagging too much. Well, that's what I tell the wife when she catchs me wearing hers.... – Hairy Jul 27 '11 at 07:25
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    I've worked as a Registered Nurse for more than twenty years and have many opportunities to notice elderly women's breasts. Almost all of these breasts sag. I am assuming that almost all of these women have worn brassieres since puberty. And so I have concluded that wearing a bra does not prevent breasts from sagging. On a side note, there are a few women (perhaps 5%) over 70 who have remarkably youthful appearing bodies in all aspects. Perhaps someday a cosmetics corporation will find it profitable to pay for research into this subject. –  Jul 18 '12 at 13:15

1 Answers1

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According to the Wikipedia article (with sources), not even bra manufacturers claim that bras prevent saggy breasts.

Now, this is of course not conclusive. I have found two studies, that go further and claim that wearing no bra actually trains the chest muscles, making the breasts firmer and thus prevent sagging.

The first is a Japanese study, Breast form changes resulting from a certain brassière from 1990. Their salient finding is that,

In all subjects, after 3 months of brassière constraint … the breasts tended to hang down.

But the study only had 11 subjects so its expressive power is very low.

The second study is by Pierrot L., Evolution du sein après l'arrêt du port du soutien gorge, étude préliminaire longitudinale sur 33 sportives volontaires from 2003. Unfortunately, I cannot find this study online. It is referenced by a lot of health sites.

The key points are referred in the linked article (in French) are:

  • There were 33 test subjects between 18 and 25 years.
  • After one year of going bra-less, there was an improved development of the pectoral muscles, and a reduction of sagging (measured by a reduced distance between acromion and nipple).

In conclusion, nobody seriously claims that bras prevent saggy breasts (when no bra is worn). Furthermore, two studies tentatively confirm the idea that wearing bras actually causes saggy breasts.

(It should be noted though that this is not an exclusive cause: breasts will start sagging with age regardless of whether a bra is worn, but wearing a bra can accelerate the effect.)

Borror0
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Konrad Rudolph
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    Anecdotally speaking whenever you watch national geographic videos, the bra-less people of the rainforest are definitely sagging. – Apreche May 12 '11 at 12:11
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    @Apreche: Sagging compared to what? Have you observed lots of breasts of women of similar age in bra-wearing cultures? Most of the easily available pictures of bare breasts in Western cultures have a selection bias, typically being fairly young and often picked for breast appearance. There's also likely genetic differences between rainforest women and Western women. – David Thornley May 12 '11 at 12:24
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    @Apreche: Women in national geographic videos have probably breastfed more children than westerners, because they're more likely to have children, and are less likely to use formula. – Andrew Grimm May 12 '11 at 13:01
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    @Apreche - There are huge dietary differences between rain-forest people and westerners. – Kit Sunde May 12 '11 at 14:36
  • I'm trying to get my head around the term "tentatively confirm." – Kyralessa May 13 '11 at 02:31
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    @Kyralessa Well, the studies’ results confirm the claim but their low sample size doesn’t make this conclusion unassailable. The phrase is used quite often to mean something like this (most often with preliminary results). – Konrad Rudolph May 13 '11 at 07:06
  • @Kyralessa: Would "tentatively agree" work for you? – Andrew Grimm May 15 '11 at 06:54
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    I'd just say "two studies suggest", as the studies weren't rigorous enough to confirm anything. – Kyralessa May 15 '11 at 14:54
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    The only way to really know would be a study that has women wear half-bras for 50 years of their lives. Get on that science. – DampeS8N Jul 24 '12 at 13:50