Physical activity helps protect against some cancers, including breast and colon cancer.

• Colon cancer - Physical activity accelerates the movement of food through the intestine, thereby reducing the length of time that the bowel lining is exposed to mutagens
• Breast cancer - Vigorous physical activity may decrease the exposure of breast tissue to circulating estrogen

Improving energy metabolism and reducing circulating concentrations of insulin and related growth factors also reduce the risk of other chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and hypertension.  

How much physical activity is enough?

Adults should engage in at least moderate activity for 30 minutes or more on five or more days of the week; 45 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous activity on five or more days per week may further enhance reductions in the risk of breast and colon cancer.

Children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on at least five days per week.

*One of the best predictors of adult physical activity is activity levels during childhood and adolescence.

Moderate Activities - Walking, dancing, leisurely bicycling, ice skating, roller skating, horseback riding, canoeing, yoga, volleyball, golfing, softball, baseball, badminton, doubles tennis, downhill skiing, mowing the lawn, general lawn and garden maintenance, walking and lifting as part of the job such as custodial work, farming, auto or machine repair.

Vigorous Activities - Jogging or running, fast bicycling, circuit weight training, aerobic dance, martial arts, jumping rope, swimming, soccer, field or ice hockey, lacrosse, singles tennis, racquetball, basketball, cross country skiing, digging, carrying and hauling, masonry, carpentry, heavy manual labor such as forestry, construction work, fire fighting.

Active meetings strategies:

• Encourage attendees to walk to the meeting if feasible
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Ice breakers - rather than sedentary introductions - start with an active icebreaker
• Have meeting attendees actively participate in the meeting; write on board or flipchart, move into groups, stand and present findings back to the group
• For multiple day meetings, select a site where participants can get out and walk or use a gym
• For multiple day meetings, plan a variety of physical activiity choices

Adopting a physically active lifestyle involves making deliberate decisions and changing lifestyle behaviors in order to select active, rather than sedentary behaviors.

Adapted from the American Cancer Society