Physical activity and cancer prevention

Be active for at least 30 minutes every day.

Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. Being active doesn't have to mean going to the gym; there are plenty of other ways to be active that can easily fit into your usual routine.

Most of us know that regular physical activity can help keep our hearts healthy – and the good news is that it can also reduce our risk of cancer. As well as helping us to avoid weight gain, research shows that activity itself has a direct role in preventing some cancers.

If you’re not used to doing much activity, start by working towards 30 minutes of moderate activity each day – remember that anything is better than nothing!

You can build up slowly until you reach your target. The more you do each day, the more you are helping to reduce your cancer risk.

Physical activity and cancer prevention – the evidence

Our Expert Report found strong evidence that physical activity helps protect against bowel cancer. It probably also protects against breast cancer (in postmenopausal women) and endometrial (womb lining) cancer.

Scientists are still investigating exactly how this connection works, but studies show that regular activity can help to keep our hormone levels healthy, which is important as having high levels of some hormones can increase our cancer risk.

Physical activity may also strengthen our immune system and help to keep our digestive system healthy.

What type of activity should I do?

The short answer is that any type of activity is good. Activity can be described as moderate or vigorous - if you can, aim to do a mixture of both.

Moderate activity is anything that gets your heart beating a bit faster and makes you breathe more deeply - like brisk walking, gentle swimming or dancing. There are plenty of easy ways to build this type of activity into your daily routine, so you don’t need to set aside half an hour each day to exercise. Shorter bouts of activity are just as beneficial as it’s the total time that’s important.

Vigorous activity is any activity that raises your heart rate so that you warm up, start to sweat and feel out of breath. If you want to make vigorous activity a regular part of your life, it’s important to find something that is fun and accessible such as jogging, an aerobics class or team games, such as football and netball.

Being active to help maintain a healthy weight

As well as directly reducing the risk of some cancers, physical activity is also a great way to help to stay in shape. This can also help to lower your cancer risk.

Being moderately active for 30 minutes a day is a great starting point. For maximum health benefits, scientists recommend that we aim for 60 minutes or more of moderate activity every day, or 30 minutes or more of vigorous activity. This can help us to avoid weight gain, so try to build up your amount as your fitness improves.

If you are looking for motivation to become more physically active, why not sign up for one of WCRF UK’s running events? They are a great way to become more active at the same time as raising vital funds for cancer prevention.

Tips for keeping active

• Make 30 minutes part of your everyday routine. There are plenty of easy ways to build activity into your daily routine - like cycling and walking. Try getting off the bus one stop earlier or parking the car a little further away from the shops, or leave the car behind if you are only going somewhere local.
• Reduce the time you spend doing sedentary activities. It's easy to spend more time that we realise doing things that don't require us to be active. Time spent watching television, reading and being on the computer can all add up. Try to swap some of these sedentary activities for more active ones like going for a walk with friends or starting a new active hobby like dancing or swimming.

Read all our Recommendations for Cancer Prevention