These Activities You May Do Regularly Pose Greater Risk of Death Than Skydiving

If you've been holding back from going skydiving because you're afraid of some freak accident occurring, there's some good news.

It turns out jumping from a plan with a parachute strapped to your back isn't so dangerous after all. In fact, there's a better chance you will die from a variety of other activities than from skydiving – and some of them don't exactly involve the same level of thrill. Among those things: canoeing, driving a car and boxing.

That's according to a study by the health care information website Best Health Degrees, which looked at the various activities that have resulted in people dying and then determined others' chances. 

Here's a look at the surprising results.

Source: Best Health Degrees

Based on the findings, a person is more likely to die while canoeing or while playing football than while jumping out of a plane from thousands of feet in the air. Further, the chances of dying while riding a bike are only a little lower than the chances of dying while skydiving.

The activities listed that are most likely to lead to death are hang gliding, boxing, scuba diving, grand prix racing, motor bike racing and bungee jumping. Dancing, as turns out, is also a high risk. If all of that seems daunting, consider this: in addition to all of the risks the study mentions, a person's probability of dying doubles every eight years. 

The Centers for Disease Control reports the average life span in the U.S. was 77.9 years in 2013. Among the leading causes of death in the country are heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases, accidents, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes. 

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