- Half hour walks to work and back five days a week could counter desk bound risk
- Each hour sitting above six hours a day raises your risk of death by 4 per cent
- The study was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology
A brisk walk to and from work could counter the health risks of being deskbound at work for long periods every day, according to researchers.
They said each hour spent sitting above six hours a day raises your risk of dying from any cause by 4 per cent, but this vanishes if you get at least 300 minutes of moderate or vigorous exercise a week.
This is equivalent to a half-hour walk to work and back, on five days a week.
The Australian researchers at the University of Sydney stressed that the benefits came from exercise rather than simply reducing time spent sitting.
The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, tracked just over 149,000 men and women aged 45 and older for nearly nine years.
The researchers found that while 150 to 199 minutes of exercise a week greatly offset the risk of death associated with extended sitting, those who got 300 to 419 minutes cancelled it out.
Source: Daily Mail
