Dedicate 71 minutes to breaks at work everyday for a longer life

If your work involves sitting at one place for longer periods, you must take frequent breaks to move about. It will help you cut extra body fat, thus lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes and early death.

Researchers from Denmark and Sydney conducted a multi-component work-based intervention to reduce sitting time and prolonged sitting periods. They analysed 317 office workers in 19 offices across Denmark and Greenland randomly put into the intervention or control groups.

Read: Office chatter: Know who will help you at work

The intervention included environmental office changes and a lecture and workshop, where workers were encouraged to use their sit-stand desks.

After one month, participants in the intervention group sat down for 71 minutes less in an eight-hour work day than the control group. This reduced to 48 minutes after three months.

The results, which were followed up for three months, showed a reduction of 0.61% in body fat in study participants.

This was as a result of 71-minute shorter sitting time per day during working hours after one 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 all-cause mortality, especially among those who are inactive,” said professor Janne Tolstrup from National Institute of Public Health, Denmark.

“The number of steps per workday hour was 7% higher at one month and 8% higher at three months,” said the study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.