Chacon, the first woman to fill the position, has promised to change the uniforms to better suit "female body shapess."

"Men and women have the same rights, but they have a totally different physical make-up," Chacon said at a meeting of dozens of women soldiers.

"The uniforms should be changed to meet women's needs," the minister said.

The new uniforms will be designed to fit "women's chests, hips and waistlines" better, the Spanish daily El Mundo said Thursday.

The defence ministry will base the changes on a recent study from the country's ministry of health, which measured the body types of thousands of Spanish women.

Chacon also announced other measures aimed at improving the lives of women in the army and promoting equality between men and women. One proposal is to create day centres which would look after soldiers' children during the school holidays.

Sanitary, study and rest facilities, some of which are "very old", would also be improved, the minister added.

The Spanish armed forces did not begin to admit women until 1988. They now number 15,400 out of a total strength of 79,000.

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