NIH study finds daily step count may matter more than activity intensity for reducing cancer risk.
In a prospective cohort study involving over 85,000 adults in the United Kingdom, researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Oxford found that individuals who engaged in daily light- and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity had a lower risk of developing cancer compared to those with more sedentary lifestyles. The study, published on March 26, 2025, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, is one of the first to specifically examine the cancer risk reduction linked to light-intensity activities, such as running errands and doing household chores.
While previous research has shown an inverse relationship between physical activity and cancer risk, many of those studies relied on self-reported data, which may not accurately reflect the intensity or duration of physical activity.
Earlier studies that used objective measures were focused on higher-intensity physical activity. In the new study, led by researchers from NIH’s National Cancer Institute, participants in the UK Biobank study (median age of 63) wore wrist accelerometers that tracked total daily activity, activity intensity, and daily step count over a period of one week. The researchers then looked at the relationship between the daily averages and incidence of 13 cancer types, including breast and colorectal cancer, previously associated with physical activity.
Significant Risk Reduction Observed
After a mean follow-up of 5.8 years, 2,633 participants had been diagnosed with one of the 13 cancer types. Individuals with the highest total amount of daily physical activity had a 26% lower risk of developing cancer than individuals who had the lowest amount of daily physical activity. The researchers also explored the impact of replacing daily sedentary time with light- and moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity and found that this shift was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. The associations between physical activity and cancer risk remained even after researchers adjusted for demographic factors, lifestyle factors, body mass index (BMI), and other health conditions.
Higher daily step count, but not the pace of the steps (step intensity), was also associated with a lower risk of cancer. Compared with cancer risk in those taking 5,000 steps per day, cancer risk was 11% lower for those taking 7,000 steps per day and 16% lower for those taking 9,000 steps per day. Beyond 9,000 steps, the risk reduction plateaued. The researchers suggested that less physically active individuals may lower their cancer risk by incorporating more walking, at any pace, into their daily routine.
Reference: “Amount and intensity of daily total physical activity, step count and risk of incident cancer in the UK Biobank” by Alaina H Shreves, Scott R Small, Rosemary Walmsley, Shing Chan, Pedro F Saint-Maurice, Steven C Moore, Keren Papier, Kezia Gaitskell, Ruth C Travis, Charles E Matthews and Aiden Doherty, 26 March 2025, British Journal of Sports Medicine.
DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2024-109360
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.