2023-07-31 09:50:00
Shopping, cleaning the house, walking the dog or even gardening… These daily chores can sometimes be painful and boring. However, beyond being essential, these tasks might be beneficial to health. This is the observation that researchers from the University of Sydney (Australia) have just made. According to them, devoting only a few minutes a day to household chores would help reduce the risk of many cancers. The study results were published in the journal JAMA Oncology.
Betting on daily physical activities to ward off cancer
For this study, the scientists followed 22,398 adults, average age 62 and self-declared as non-athletes. The researchers tracked the participants’ daily activity using data from wearable devices, including activity trackers. In parallel, they analyzed the clinical health records of the volunteers for nearly seven years.
The aim was to monitor any possible occurrence of cancer. During this period, 2,356 new cases of cancer were detected. The scientists focused on vigorous intermittent physical activity (VILPA). Coined by Australian researchers, the term VILPA refers to periods of very short activities that we do every day such as household chores or shopping.
Cancer: Up to 32% less risk for 4.5 minutes daily of VILPA
According to the results of the study, doing these chores for just a few minutes each day would help reduce the risk of cancer. A minimum dose of 3.4 to 3.6 minutes of VILPA per day has been associated with a 17% to 18% reduction in total cancer risk incident in relation to the absence of VILPA. By increasing the daily duration of activity, the reduction in cancer risk also increased. Thus, a median daily VILPA of 4.5 minutes was associated with a 31% to 32% reduction in cancer incidence related to physical activity.
VILPA: this method would reduce the risk of 13 types of cancer
“We know that the majority of middle-aged people do not exercise regularlyputting them at increased risk of cancer, but it’s only thanks to the advent of wearable technologies like activity trackers that we’re able to examine the impact of short periods of accidental physical activity done as part of daily life“, said the study’s lead author, Professor Stamatakis, in a statement published on July 28, 2023.
He adds: “This new study shows that the more you move at a high intensity as part of your daily life, the lower your risk of developing cancer, in particular up to the 13 types associated with physical inactivity”. Among the cancers favored by the lack of physical activity, the expert cites in particular breast, endometrial, colon, lung or liver cancer.
If more studies are needed, the researchers welcome these results which show the positive effects of VILPA on health. “The VILPA is a bit like applying the principles of training high-intensity interval training (HIIT) to your daily life“, concludes the scientist.
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