Light Physical Activity Associated With Lower Cancer Risk, Study Finds

A new cohort study of over 85,000 adults in the United Kingdom has found that “individuals who engaged in light- and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity daily physical activity had a lower risk of cancer than individuals who were more sedentary.”

These findings are among the first to “evaluate the cancer risk reduction associated with light intensity activities such as doing errands and performing household chores.” Previous studies showed an “inverse association between physical activity and cancer risk, but most of these studies relied on self-reported questionnaires, which may not accurately capture the intensity of different activities.”

In this study, participants (who had a median age of 63) “wore wrist accelerometers that tracked total daily activity, activity intensity, and daily step count over a period of one week. The researchers then looked at the relationship between the daily averages and incidence of 13 cancer types, including breast and colorectal cancer, previously associated with physical activity.”

At a mean follow-up of 5.8 years, 2,633 of the participants had developed one of the 13 cancer types. Those individuals with the highest total amount of daily physical activity had a “26% lower risk of developing cancer than individuals who had the lowest amount of daily physical activity.” The associations between physical activity and cancer risk remained “even after researchers adjusted for demographic factors, lifestyle factors, body mass index, and other conditions.”

Also associated with a lower risk of cancer was “higher daily step count.” Cancer risk decreased in those who took 5,000 to 9,000 steps per day before plateauing beyond that point.