Short spells of exercise ‘can help offset health risks of prolonged sitting’

The health risks associated with sitting for eight or more hours a day could potentially be offset by an hour or more of daily physical activity, according to a new study.

Led by the University of Cambridge, the researchers analysed 16 studies, which included data from more than one million men and women. It was found that 60 to 75 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day were enough to eliminate the increased risk of early death associated with sitting for more than eight hours per day.

However, as many as three out of four people included in this study failed to reach this level of daily activity, with the greatest risk of early death seen among those who were physically inactive, regardless of the amount of time they spent sitting.

People in this latter group were between 28 percent and 59 percent were more likely to die early compared with those who were most active, a similar risk to smoking and obesity. This means that a lack of physical activity poses a greater risk than prolonged sitting.

Professor Ulf Ekelund from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge said: "An hour of physical activity per day is the ideal, but if this is unmanageable, then at least doing some exercise each day can help reduce the risk."