It found both men and women carrying excess weight around the waistline increased their risk of developing a form of the disease by 11 per cent - even if they exercised. Similarly, people not achieving the UN organisation's guidelines for exercise had a four per cent increased risk of cancer , even if they were lean around the waist.
The risk begins when a waist measurement gets over cm 40in for men and 88cm 35in for women, which are the recommended limits set by the World Health Organisation WHO. The WHO recommends minutes of moderate exercise a week, or minutes of vigorous exercise, or a mix of both. Moderate activities include brisk walking, heavy cleaning , cycling , and badminton.
Vigorous activities include hiking, jogging, shovelling, fast cycling, football, basketball, and tennis. The study, involving more than , people, is one of the largest to investigate how both waist size and exercise combine to lower the likelihood of cancer. The study essentially found that those who have a larger waist have a risk of cancer even if they exercise - and even if their waist was smalll, they had an increased risk of cancer if they did not exercise.
Previous studies have shown that exercise and a healthy diet full of fruit and vegetables slashes people's risk of developing the disease. Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine , the team said: "Adherence to both WHO guidelines for waist circumference and physical activity is essential for cancer prevention; meeting just one of these guidelines is insufficient.
The latest data from NHS Digital shows that 28 per cent of adults in England are obese, and 36 per cent are overweight, with rates of excess weight remaining high in recent years. Dr Helen Croker, assistant director of research and policy at the World Cancer Research Fund that funded the research, said: "These findings underscore the importance of a holistic lifestyle approach instead of focusing on a single factor to reduce cancer risk.
