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Sitting less and moving more often is associated with a lower risk of early death in middle aged and older people, according to a review of data from over 36,000 people.
Ulf Ekelund at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo and his colleagues analysed eight studies involving 36,383 adults in the US and western Europe aged 40 years or older. These studies all used accelerometers, wearable devices that track activity during waking hours.
The participants were tracked for an average of 5.8 years, and 2149 participants died throughout the course of these studies.
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The researchers found that any level of physical activity, regardless of intensity, was associated with a substantially lower risk of death.
In contrast, spending nine and a half hours or more each day sedentary was associated with a statistically significant increased risk of death.
Journal reference: BMJ
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