Walking can offset hours of sitting around

Yes, we all sit around too much—but the hours we spend slouched in front of a PC, smartphone or TV can be countered by taking a walk or two every day.

An hour of activity can offset any harm from the many hours spent sitting, reckon researchers at the University of Sydney.

Irrespective of the time spent sitting, people who walk around 10,000 steps every day reduce their risk of early death by around 39 percent and of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 21 percent.

“This is by no means a get out of jail card for people who are sedentary for excessive periods of time; however, it does hold an important public health message that all movement matters and that people can and should try to offset the health consequences of unavoidable sedentary time by upping their daily step count,”  said Matthew Ahmadi, one of the researchers.

The researchers analysed data from 72,174 people with an average age of 61, who wore an accelerometer on their wrist for seven days, allowing researchers to track both step count and time spent sitting or lying down while awake.

On average, the participants walked around 6,200 steps a day, while the least active walked just 2,200 steps, and most were sedentary for an average of 10.6 hours every day.

Over the nearly seven years follow-up, 1,633 participants had died and 6,190 developed CVD—but the risk was reduced in those who walked between 9,000 and 10,000 steps every day, irrespective of the time they spent sitting around.  The risk started to fall in those who were walking around 4,400 steps a day.

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