Fitness ‘lowers breast cancer risk’

Women who stay fit and physically active after the menopause can significantly reduce their risk of breast cancer, a study has shown.

But they have to work hard to get the benefit, spending more than seven hours a week taking “moderate-to-vigorous” exercise, say scientists.

“Light intensity” activities such as bowling, table tennis, fishing, slow walking and light gardening did not have the same effect. And no amount of exercise appeared to protect younger women during their fertile years.

Examples of “moderate-to-vigorous” activity given by the scientists included tennis, biking, swimming, weight-lifting, cheerleading, hiking, fast-walking, jogging and heavy housework and gardening.

Previous studies have linked physical activity and protection against breast cancer. But this was one of the first to look at the importance of different kinds of exercise at various stages of life.

Researchers asked more than 110,000 post-menopausal women to rate their activity levels at ages 15 to 18, 19 to 29, 35 to 39, and in the past 10 years.

Over a 6.6-year follow-up period, it was found that women in the last group who had done more than seven hours a week of moderate-to-vigorous exercise were 16% less likely to develop breast cancer than inactive women.

No link was seen between reduced breast cancer risk and physical activity at younger ages.

Light intensity exercise at any stage of life had no effect on the chances of developing breast cancer.

Breast cancer affects around 45,500 women each year in the UK and causes more than 12,400 deaths. An estimated one in nine women will suffer from the disease at some time in their life.

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