Vigorous physical activity lowers risk of colon cancer: new research

The study in over 200,000 NSW people aimed to find out if physical activity, obesity and prolonged sitting influenced someone’s risk of colon and rectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC), defined as cancer of the colon or rectum, is one of the most common cancers in Australia, with almost 17,000 new cases each year.

“We found that vigorous physical activity – even just over 10 minutes a day – reduced study participants’ risk of colon cancer,” Dr Visalini Nair-Shalliker, Research Fellow at Cancer Council NSW, said.

Cancer Council recommends aiming for 60 minutes of moderate or 30 minutes of vigorous physical activity every day. There is evidence to suggest that the more exercise you do, the lower your risk – especially if this is more vigorous physical activity.

“We also found that being overweight or obese increased the risk of developing colon cancer by 32%,” Dr Nair-Shalliker continued.

Since physical activity can also contribute to weight loss, which can help people manage the cancer risk that comes from being overweight or obese, the study also examined if the risks of being obese were offset by the benefits of physical activity, or vice versa.

“We found that the two risk factors (physical activity and obesity) appear to be independent of each other – meaning that anyone can benefit from physical activity, regardless of their body weight,” Dr Nair-Shalliker added.

This finding highlights that anyone can lower their risk of cancer by being physically active, regardless of their body weight.

“In light of our new study – and knowing that 1 in 3 cancer cases in Australia can be prevented by living a healthy lifestyle – we recommend that people aim to be physically active as well as achieve a healthy weight,” Dr Nair-Shalliker concluded.