Cut sitting time in office and live longer, study says

Doing so lowers risk of heart disease, diabetes

Office workers take note! Frequent breaks could help you live longer. Reducing sitting time can help you cut extra body fat, and so lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death, says a new study.

The study, which was followed up for three months, showed a reduction of 0.61 per cent body fat in participants.

During the study, they were asked to sit for 71-minutes less than they normally did during work hours, and results were noted after a month.

“A reduction in sitting time by 71 minutes per day could have positive effect in the long run as this could be associated with reduced risk of heart diseases, diabetes and allcause mortality, especially among those who are inactive,” said professor Janne Tolstrup from National Institute of Public Health, Denmark.

Researchers from University of Southern Denmark, the National Research Centre for Prevention and Health and the University of Sydney analysed 317 office workers in 19 offices across Denmark and Greenland who were randomly put into the intervention or control groups.