The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Just 22 minutes a day of brisk walking, cycling or running could offset the risk of death from too much sitting down.
In western countries like the UK, adults spend an average of nine to 10 hours a day sitting down – mostly during the time they are at work.
This sedentary lifestyle, which is difficult to avoid for office workers, boosts the chances of an early death, raising the risk of health problems from obesity and high blood pressure to diabetes and heart disease.
But doing more than 22 minutes a day of moderate and vigorous exercise ‘eliminates’ the risk of premature death which comes from sitting around too much, a study suggests.
Researchers looked at almost 12,000 people aged 50 and over from large health studies in Norway, Sweden and the US who were given fitness trackers to judge their physical activity.
In western countries like the UK, adults spend an average of nine to 10 hours a day sitting down – mostly during the time they are at work
They were followed up for an average of five years, during which time 805 people died.
The rate of deaths in sedentary people, compared to those who were less sedentary, and among those who got different amounts of exercise, produced interesting findings.
Researchers found being sedentary for more than 12 hours a day was linked to a 38 per cent higher risk of early death compared with being sedentary for eight hours a day.
But this was only the case for those who did less than 22 daily minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
The study backs up the UK chief medical officers’ recommendation that people aim for 150 minutes of MVPA per week – roughly 21 minutes per day.
