Housework reduced the risk of both pre and post menopausal women getting the disease

The study on more than 200,000 women from nine European countries revealed that exercise through doing household work was more cancer protective than playing sport. The women in the study spent an average of 16 to 17 hours a week doing household chores including cooking, cleaning and laundry.

It has been known for some time that exercise can reduce the risk of break cancer, however it has been unclear what types of exercise are more beneficial.

Previous studies have looked mainly at the link between exercise and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

Out of all the activities, including work, leisure and housework, only housework reduced the risk of both pre and post menopausal women getting the disease.

Housework cut breast cancer risk by 30% among the pre-menopausal women and 20% among the post-menopausal women.

The women were studied over an average of 6.4 years, during which time there were 3,423 cases of breast cancer.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK, Dr Lesley Walker from the charity said, ‘We already know that women who keep a healthy weight are less likely to develop breast cancer. This study suggests that being physically active may also help reduce the risk and that something as simple and cheap as doing the housework can help.’