Although the economic crisis resulted in a three percent decline in the amount of money spent on plastic surgery procedures in 2009, American women who had the extra money for plastic surgery were quick to increase the size of their breasts. For the fourth year in a row the top procedure among women was breast augmentation, with a reported 311,957 surgeries being performed in 2009, according to recent statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).

Who’s Getting Breast Augmentation?

While breast augmentation is a procedure that seems to appeal to a varying age range, including patients under the age of 18 and a handful in the 65-plus crowd, women are commonly getting breast augmentation between the ages of 19 and 34. Looking to enhance their physique during the prime of their life, it would seem that many women are looking at larger breasts as a way to make them appear more desirable, especially when it comes to dating and marriage.

It would seem that America’s obsession with larger breasts is still at the forefront of idealized beauty, only second to the slimmer physique that can be accomplished with liposuction. And with the media circus surrounding celebrity breast augmentations such as that of Jaime Pressly, Kate Hudson, and Heidi Montag, it’s no surprise that women these days would feel inadequate when it comes to their breast size.