An antidote to the desk? Ben Birchall/PA Wire

An hour a day keeps death away. An analysis of data from a million people has found that an hour of moderate physical activity a day is enough to cancel out the deadly effect of working at a desk all day.

The analysis confirmed that too much time spent sitting is deadly, finding that those who sat for more than eight hours a day without doing exercise were up to 60 per cent more likely to die prematurely.

But the study contradicts previous research that suggests exercise is not an effective antidote to having a desk job. It found that the increased risk of death associated with sitting was not there for people who did a minimum of one hour’s moderate activity a day, such as a brisk walk or a cycle ride.


“We found that at least one hour of physical activity per day eliminates the association between sitting time and death,” said Ulf Ekelund, at the University of Cambridge.

Removing this risk of early death does not necessarily require a trip to the gym, said Ekelund. “It’s OK doing some brisk walking maybe in the morning, during your lunchtime, after dinner in the evening. You can split it up over the day but you need to do at least one hour.”

“People who sit for longer hours should be concerned and could take the findings of this research as an opportunity to be proactive,” Erika Borkoles at Bournemouth University, UK, told the Science Media Centre. “If they are in a job that requires prolonged sitting, existing research suggests that they should stand up and walk about at least once an hour if they can.”

The study brought together data from 16 previous investigations. The participants were mostly aged over 45 and from the US, Western Europe, or Australia. Cancer, and heart and artery disease, were the causes of death that were most strongly linked to an inactive lifestyle.

Journal reference: The Lancet, DOI: 10.1016/ S0140-6736(16)30370-1