In the wake of King Charles' recent cancer diagnosis, there's a reminder to us all to have regular check-ups, especially if something doesn't feel right. A new study from the World Cancer Research Fund now shows how dedicating just three and a half minutes to exercise each day can significantly reduce your risk of cancer.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Dr Helen Croker and I'm the Assistant Director of Research and Policy at World Cancer
00:07 Research Fund.
00:09 Cancer Prevention Action Week is World Cancer Research Fund's annual campaign trying to
00:13 raise awareness about cancer prevention.
00:16 And this year's Cancer Prevention Action Week is all about moving more.
00:21 So most people know that being physically active is good for them, but what people might
00:26 not know is that it can actually reduce the risk of certain cancers.
00:30 So for example, endometrial cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer.
00:36 Each year just shy of 400,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with cancer.
00:41 On average, someone in the UK is diagnosed at least every 90 seconds.
00:46 While one in two of us will be affected by cancer at some point in our lives, the World
00:50 Cancer Research Fund is using Cancer Prevention Action Week this year to shine a light on
00:54 the massive impact of small daily changes for monumental health benefits.
00:59 We know that lots of people find it difficult to fit physical activity in and people might
01:04 not feel confident or wanting to go to the gym or go for a run.
01:10 So with this campaign, we're just encouraging people to move more.
01:14 Make the most of downtime, spare moments in your day to build in small parts of physical
01:19 activity that will add up across the day and help to improve your health.
01:24 And it may be surprising for some just how small the change needs to be to make a big
01:28 difference.
01:29 New research from the fund has shown that adding just three and a half minutes of vigorous
01:33 exercise - the kind that gets you out of breath to your day - can lower your risk from some
01:37 cancers by up to 18%.
01:40 Some examples are while you're boiling the kettle, you might do some wall planks or some
01:45 squats.
01:47 Instead of just scrolling on social media, take that opportunity to do perhaps some star
01:52 jumps or some marching on the spot.
01:55 If you've got stairs, you can go up and down the stairs.
01:58 When you're on the phone, maybe walk around, do some bicep curls with cans of beans.
02:03 All of these kinds of things that you can just do without any special equipment, any
02:08 special clothes, that you can just build into your routine and just then have that as a
02:12 kind of starting point to being more active.
02:15 Cancer diagnosis has been topical as of late after it was announced King Charles is undergoing
02:20 outpatient treatment for an undisclosed cancer.
02:23 His former sister-in-law, who is herself being treated for skin cancer, posted on social
02:28 media to highlight Cancer Prevention Action Week, warning that days could make the difference
02:33 between life and death.
02:35 Experts like Dr Croker believe opening the conversation is key.
02:38 Having such high profile people talking about it, making it become a more normal conversation
02:43 is really helpful.
02:45 It's helpful in terms of thinking about positive steps we can do to reduce our risk, but also
02:51 really importantly, raising the fact that if you've got any symptoms, anything that
02:57 feels unusual for you, that you should go and have that checked out.
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