Enemy within - Scoop: health fitness nutrition diet supplements personal care environment - regular exercise can reduce intra-abdominal fat in older women - Brief Article

Researchers at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have found that older women who engage in regular, moderate-intensity exercise can reduce their levels of intra-abdominal fat, an often-overlooked risk factor in cancer and many other chronic diseases. In the largest clinical trial of its kind to date, the results of which were published in the January 15, 2003 Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found direct evidence that such exercise can help women reduce this invisible fat that, left unchecked, raises insulin levels, which promotes the growth of cancer cells.

Even if this reduction is not detectable on the bathroom scale--or in the fit of clothing--women will benefit from it. They also have few excuses not to work off the weight, says Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, a breast cancer specialist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. "The beauty of exercise as a method to reduce total and intra-abdominal far--and therefore chronic disease--is that it can be done by most women at low cost and with low risk of side effects," McTiernan says.