Taking movement breaks during sitting reduces cancer mortality risk

Researchers have found that taking short movement breaks during long periods of sitting may lower the risk of dying from cancer. The study, which tracked people's activity levels over 14 years, showed that each extra hour of uninterrupted sitting raised cancer mortality risk by around 9 to 10 percent.

However, small changes made a noticeable difference. Swapping just five minutes of sitting for vigorous exercise was linked to a 22 percent drop in cancer mortality risk. Even replacing an hour of sitting with gentle movement reduced the risk by 12 percent.

The benefits were strongest for the least active people. For this group, 30 minutes of light activity instead of sitting was connected to a 14 percent lower risk. The researchers noted that how often people broke up their sitting time appeared to matter as much as the total amount of time spent sitting.