Hour of exercise beats the blues

JUST one hour of exercise a week can ward of depression, a major study shows. Experts from London, Norway and Australia tracked 34,000 people for 11 years and found that 12 per cent of all cases of depression could be prevented with a little exercise. The benefits for mental health plateaued at an hour, the American Journal of Psychiatry reports.

Dr Samuel Harvey, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said: ‘Small changes can reap significant mental health benefits.’