Hour of walking cuts breast cancer risk 14%

Women who walk for an hour a day can cut their chance of breast cancer by 14%, a study has found.

While it is well known that being active cuts risk of the disease, this is the first study to specifically look at the effect of walking.

The American Cancer Society study involved 73,615 post-menopausal women, of whom 4,760 were diagnosed with breast cancer during a 17-year follow-up.

The researchers found that moderate activity in the form of walking an hour a day was associated with a 14% lower risk of the disease compared to women who were least active.

Among all women in the group, 47% said walking was their only recreational activity and women were far more likely to take part in walking, dancing, or aerobics than vigorous activities such as running, swimming, and tennis.

Among women who reported walking as their only activity, those who walked at least seven hours per week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer compared to those who walked three or fewer hours per week.

Women who took part in more vigorous activities for an hour a day had a 25% lower risk of breast cancer than the least active.

The study results were unaffected by factors such as a woman’s weight or whether she used hormone replacement therapy.

Alpa Patel, senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society in Georgia, said: “Our results support an association between physical activity and post-menopausal 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 an 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.”

Dr Patel said the majority of women reported some daily walking and therefore promoting walking could be an effective strategy for increasing activity.

“We were pleased to find that without any other recreational activity, just walking an average of one hour per day was associated with lower risk of breast cancer in these women,” said Dr Patel.

The authors said this was the first study to report a lower risk for breast cancer among post-menopausal women specifically related to walking.