Regular physical activity can reduce your breast cancer risk by 20%
After reviewing the best scientific evidence and consulting with experts, Breakthrough Breast Cancer estimates that women can reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by at least 20% by being regularly physically active. Or to put it another way, a comprehensive study identified during our review suggests that if every woman in the UK was regularly physically active, 1 in 6 cases of breast cancer could be avoided each year.
To help explain the reduction in risk, let’s think about two groups of women (see diagrams above). Being physically active means that four rather than five women out of 40 will develop breast cancer. That’s equivalent to a 20% reduction in risk. Regular physical activity can also help prevent and manage many other conditions, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, other types of cancer, obesity, mental health conditions and musculoskeletal conditions.
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