Exercise In Young Girls Reduces Future Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds

Washington D.C. (AHN) - Girls and young women who exercise regularly between the ages of 12 and 35 can substantially cut their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a major new study.

Remaining physically active until the age of 35 can reduce the chances of developing the disease before menopause by up to 23 per cent, researchers found. The study, conducted by researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Harvard University in Boston, analysed 65,000 women.

The study looked at registered nurses aged between 24 and 42, who were questioned about their physical activities from the age of 12. After six years of the study, 550 women had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Researchers found the disease was more prominent among the less active than among the physically fit. The most active women were exercising at a rate equivalent to running for 3.25 hours a week or walking for 13 hours, the study found.

Lead researcher Dr. Graham Colditz said in a press release, "We don't have a lot of prevention strategies for premenopausal breast cancer, but our findings clearly show that physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood can pay off in the long run by reducing a woman's risk of early breast cancer."

Colditz added that the findings are just "one more reason to encourage young girls and women to exercise regularly."

The findings were published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The research was funded by grants from the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society.