As I began the week writing about exercise I thought I would continue along similar lines and mention some newly published research(1) which adds to the ever growing evidence suggesting that physical activity is important in preventing cancer.

This most recent research was carried out as part of the Japan Public Health Centre Study.  The trial involved a total of 79,771 Japanese men and women aged 45-74 years who were followed for around 9 years.  During this time 4334 cases of cancer occurred in the individuals taking part.  The researchers looked at overall daily physical activity levels. The surveyed population was divided into four groups according to individual working metabolic rate which was determined by the amount of time respondents spent sitting, walking, standing, sleeping and exercising. 

Increased daily physical activity was associated with a significantly decreased risk of cancer in both men and women (compared to individuals with the lowest daily physical activity rates).  The decreased risk was more clearly observed in women than in men (men in the most active group had a 13% reduced risk of developing cancer compared with the least active group, and women in the most active group had a 16% lower risk), especially among the elderly and those who were regular exercisers.  In men cancer of the colon, liver and pancreas were protected against by physical activity and in women decreased risk was specifically associated with cancer of the stomach.  The research is particularly interesting since it focused on a relatively lean and already healthy population.  Previous research on physical activity and cancer prevention has mainly focused on the western populations who are less lean.  This indicates that physical activity seems to act as an added preventative measure in its own right.

A lot of evidence already exists for the importance of physical activity in the prevention of cancer.  For more information and tips on how to increase your physical activity levels I would suggest visiting the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) website.  This is a fantastic charity focussing solely on the prevention of cancer through dietary and lifestyle changes.  Scientists estimate that about a third of cancers could be prevented by eating a healthy diet, being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight!  WCRF were the first cancer charity: to create awareness of the relationship between diet and cancer risk; to focus funding on research into diet and cancer prevention and; to consolidate and interpret global research to create a practical message on cancer prevention.

My daily walk is definitely here to stay!

(1) Inoue M et al.  2008.  Daily Total Physical Activity Level and Total Cancer Risk in Men and Women: Results from a Large-scale Population-based Cohort Study in Japan. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print]

Written by Ani Kowal