Small decline in daily activity can increase risk of cancer, study finds

• New research indicates that even a slight reduction in daily vigorous exercise can elevate cancer risk by 15 per cent.
• Experts warn that replacing physical activity with sedentary habits, such as sitting or watching TV, directly contributes to this increased risk.
• The study, published in BMC Medicine, analysed lifestyle data from 59,218 UK Biobank participants over an eight-year period, recording 2,385 cancer cases.
• Findings showed that increased movement correlated with a lower cancer risk, with replacing 15 minutes of sedentary time with movement linked to a 2 per cent reduced risk.
• Conversely, swapping 30 minutes of movement for sedentary behaviour or sleep was associated with an 8 per cent and 7 per cent increased cancer risk, respectively.

IN FULL

Swapping exercise for these common activities increases your cancer risk, experts say