Women who exercise as teens reduce their risk of dying from cancer when they're older. A study conducted by scientists at Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center found that as few as 10 or 15 minutes of exercise a day lowered the risk of dying from cancer by 16 percent during midlife and later.

The study included data on 75,000 Chinese women between the ages 40 to 70. They were asked during in-person interviews how much they exercised when they were teens and were also questioned about their lifestyles as adults. Interviews were conducted to collect baseline data and follow-up data every two to three years for about 13 years.

Researchers found that in addition to lowering their risk for cancer later in life, women who exercised as adolescents for 1.33 hours a week or less lowered their risk of dying from all causes by 15 percent. Exercising more didn't further lower risks.

Those who exercised both during adolescence and adulthood lowered their risk for death from all causes by 20 percent.

"In women, adolescent exercise participation, regardless of adult exercise, was associated with reduced risk of cancer and all-cause mortality," said study author Sarah J. Nechuta.

"Our results support the importance of promoting exercise participation in adolescence to reduce mortality in later life and highlight the critical need for the initiation of disease prevention early in life."

The study was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.