Study Reveals Taking This Many Steps a Day Lowers Cancer Risk
With certain cancers increasing in the U.S., incorporating ways to lower your chance of developing one is key. Now, new research finds that a simple daily habit could lower your risk of 13 types of cancer. Specifically, researchers found that walking regularly and getting a certain number of steps could make a difference.
Led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Oxford and published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the study followed around 85,000 adults who, at study enrollment, were asked to wear wrist accelerometers (step counters that also track activity intensity) for one week. After an average of 5.8 years, over 2,600 people had been diagnosed with one of 13 types of cancer.
Below, experts share their thoughts on the findings and what they could mean for exercise recommendations and cancer prevention at large.
What researchers found
All intensity levels tracked by the accelerometers were associated with a 26% lower risk of developing cancer. However, the more activity a person did, the better the health outcome. The baseline was 5,000 daily steps, and the more participants walked, the more significantly the risk dropped. For example, 7,000 daily steps were associated with an 11% lower cancer risk than 5,000, and 9,000 daily steps were associated with 16% lower risk, which was the lowest risk of all.
