Walking for an Hour Every Day Reduces Breast Cancer Risk

Moderate levels of physical activity such as walking lowers risk of developing breast cancer, new research has found.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in American women. Death rates due to the cancer have come down since 1990, but there has been an increase in the number of women diagnosed with the cancer. Health experts say that women can reduce their risk of developing the cancer by maintaining healthy weight, eating nutritious food and exercising.

A latest study based on data from 73,615 postmenopausal women found that women who walked for at least 7 hours a week had 14 percent lower risk of breast cancer when compared to other women. The study also found that women who engaged in at least an hour of vigorous exercise every day had 25 percent lower chance of developing breast cancer.

"Our results clearly support an association between physical activity and postmenopausal breast cancer, with more vigorous activity having a stronger effect. Our findings are particularly relevant, as people struggle with conflicting information about how much activity they need to stay healthy. Without any other recreational physical activities, walking on average of at least one hour per day was associated with a modestly lower risk of breast cancer. More strenuous and longer activities lowered the risk even more," Alpa Patel, Ph.D, senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society (ACS) in Atlanta, and lead author of the study.

All the women in the study were part of the CPS-II Nutrition Cohort. Over 4,500 women in the study were diagnosed with breast cancer during the 17-year-long study.

The study is published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Learn more about breast cancer here.