New National Institutes of Health (NIH) findings show that even small amounts of daily exercise can lower cancer risk.
More than 85,000 people participated in the study. They were an average of age 63 and wore “wrist accelerometers that tracked total daily activity, activity intensity, and daily step count over a period of one week,” according to the NIH. Prevalence of breast, colorectal, and 11 other cancers were compared to participants’ daily activities.
Only about 3% of participants had a diagnosis of one of the studied cancers after almost six years. People who were more active during the day “had a 26% lower risk of developing cancer than individuals who had the lowest amount of daily physical activity.”
The researchers also investigated the effects of adding light to more intense activity and found that even the most moderate daily physical activities prevented more cancer than staying sedentary. Additionally, “higher daily step count, but not the pace of the steps (step intensity), was also associated with a lower risk of cancer.”
The study is published in British Journal of Sports Medicine.
