Walking Two Minutes Every Hour Offers Drastic Health Improvements

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A study conducted by the University of Utah School of Medicine has concluded that people who are in the habit of moving around can lower the risk of health problems like obesity or diabetes by 33 percent.

In fact, even low-intensity physical activities such as walking around the office or standing for minutes at a time can already make a difference, reports Time.

Dr. Srinivasan Beddhu, lead author of the research and a professor of medicine, states, "It was fascinating to see the results because the current national focus is on moderate or vigorous activity... To see that light activity had an association with lower mortality is intriguing."

According to NPR, the research was done with a sample size of 3,243. The participants were tasked to wear accelerometers in order to determine the intensity of the activities they engaged in every day.

Data was collected from 3,243 participants over a three-year period. At the end of the study, 137 out of the total population studied passed away, according to Time. An immobile lifestyle was quite common among the casualties of the study, with most of them sitting on desks for most of their work hours.

Participants engaging in light activity around the office who had chronic kidney disease saw a 41 percent drop in the risk of dying from the disease, notes NPR.

A number of offices have began encouraging low-level physical activities to improve employees' health. Apart from simply standing instead of sitting, Dr. Beddhu also suggests that workers should add a little spin around the office every hour.

"If you're awake say, 16 hours a day and you move about two minutes every hour, that adds up to 32 minutes a day. Multiply that by five work days, you end up with 160 minutes per work week of light activity. And if you can do more, even better," states Dr. Beddhu.

People who engage in 5 minutes of low-level physical activity per hour can actually end up burning an additional 1,000 calories a week, helping the body burn off fat tissue and help maintain or even lose weight, Time reports.

However, Dr. Beddhu adds that while low-intensity physical activities are beneficial for a person's health, it is not enough to satisfy federal guidelines for physical activity.

In order to fully have a healthy lifestyle, a person still needs at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every week, because these activities give the body's cardiovascular system its needed boost.