Housework beats athletics at reducing cancer risk

Housework prevents breast cancer more effectively than athletic activity or manual paid labor does, according to a recent study of 200,000 women. According to researchers, "out of all of the activities, only housework significantly reduced the risk of both pre- and post-menopausal women getting the disease", and spending "16 to 17 hours a week cooking, cleaning and doing the washing" reduced cancer risk "by 30% among the pre-menopausal women and 20% among the post-menopausal women".

All exercise alters hormones and metabolism, which affect breast cancer, but why housework beats athletics? Researchers explained that moderate forms of physical activity, such as housework, may be more important than less frequent but more intense recreational physical activity. Another reason why women live longer than men ?

(the original research paper link)