Exercise in teen years lowers risk of middle-age cancer death

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Women who exercise as teenagers are less likely to die from cancer, and all other causes, during middle-age, according to a long, ongoing study of Chinese women.

The researchers said that understanding the impact of modifiable lifestyle changes such as exercise is important for women to avoid preventable disease.

"Our results support the importance of promoting exercise participation in adolescence to reduce mortality in later life and highlight the critical need for the initiation of disease prevention early in life," said Dr. Sarah Nechuta, and assistant professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University Epidemiology Center, in a press release.

Using data collected as part of the Shanghai Women's Health Study, an ongoing study of 74,941 Chinese women between the ages of 40 and 70 that started in 1996, researchers looked to see if activity as a teenager translated to better adult health.

Women in the SWHS were asked when they enrolled about adolescent exercise practices, as well as participation in team sports. They continue to be interviewed every 2 to 3 years to follow up on their exercise practices as adults. Researchers considered regular exercise to be at least once a week for 3 continuous months.

Nechuta and her colleagues found that participation in team sports as a teen was associated with an overall reduced risk in cancer. Women who exercised as adolescents, and as adults, were found to have a 20 percent reduced risk of dying from all causes, as well as 17 percent lower from cardiovascular disease and 13 percent lower from cancer.

"In women, adolescent exercise participation, regardless of adult exercise, was associated with reduced risk of cancer and all-cause mortality," Nechuta said.

The study is published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.