Lack of exercise led to 500 cancer deaths in Ireland in five years, study shows Research finds adequate activity could have prevented 1,500 cases between 2011 and 2015
Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 17:19 Updated: Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 17:21 Sarah Slater
The study, published in this month’s Irish Medical Journal, found women were disproportionately affected. Photograph: iStock
Inadequate physical activity led to about 1,500 cancer cases and 500 deaths in Ireland between 2011 and 2015, a new study has found.
The research, the first of its kind in this country, showed up to 5 per cent of total cancer cases and 6 per cent of deaths in the period were caused by not getting enough exercise. There are almost 24,000 incident invasive cancers, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer, and more than 9,000 cancer deaths per year in Ireland.