Experts pinpoint number of daily steps that can prevent 13 types of cancer - forget 10,000

Daily Mail​

15-05-2025

Reaching the golden number of 10,000 steps a day has long been lauded as one of the best ways to keep us in peak physical and mental health.
But according to new research, 7,000 is all you need to lower your chances of developing up to 13 different types of cancer.
At this many steps, the risk of developing cancer drops by 11 per cent, according to the study from the University of Oxford.
At 9,000 steps, the risk drops by 16 per cent, but experts saw no increased benefit for extra steps beyond this.
The large study involving over 85,000 people in the UK saw participants wear activity trackers for a week that measured both the amount and intensity of their daily movement.
Researchers followed up with participants six years later and found walking between 5,000 to 9,000 steps indicated a lower cancer risk, regardless of how fast those steps were taken.
The researchers looked at the cancers oesophageal, liver, lung, kidney, gastric, endometrial, myeloid leukaemia, myeloma, bowel, head and neck, rectal, bladder and breast—which have previously associated with low physical activity.
Over the six year follow-up period, only three per cent of participants developed one of these cancers.
The most common were bowel and lung cancers in men, and breast, bowel, endometrial, and lung cancers in women, according to the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Replacing sitting time with either light or moderate activity lowered cancer risk, but swapping light activity for moderate activity didn't appear to offer additional benefits.
According to the Institute of Cancer Research, light exercise can help to control levels of the hormone insulin, which help the body convert food into energy.
Fluctuating levels of the hormone have been linked to cancer development and progression.
Walking has also been found to help the body fight off infections that could go on to cause cancer, and contribute towards maintaining a healthy weight.
Being overweight and obese is the second biggest cause of cancer, according to Cancer Research UK.
The charity claims that extra fat sends out signals to the rest of the body, which can tell cells in our body to divide more often. When cells divide too rapidly they can form a cancerous tumour.
Writing about the new research in The Conversation, Mhairi Morris, biochemist and lecturer at Loughborough University, said the 7,000 daily steps don't have to be completed all at once.
You can break it up throughout the day by swapping the lift for the stairs, having a stroll at lunchtime, walking during phone calls or parking a bit further away from your destination, Ms Morris explained.
More than 400,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK, while 167,000 die from the fatal disease.
Doctors have recently sounded the alarm over the escalating cancer epidemic among young adults.
It comes as 80,000 people under 40 are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year.
One of the fastest growing cancers in this age group is bowel cancer. According to the latest data, early-onset diagnoses are expected to rise by 90 percent in people 20 to 34 years old from 2010 to 2030.