Walking for just five minutes every hour is enough to offset the harms of prolonged sitting, according to researchers. Activity breaks — sometimes called “exercise snacks” — were found to boost people’s mood and lessen fatigue without undermining work performance.
Study Details and Findings
A study included almost 20,000 adults in the US who completed regular surveys over 21 days. Some 11,484 took five-minute walking breaks every 30, 60 or 120 minutes. The study found that all three break frequencies improved mood and reduced fatigue, with hourly breaks deemed the most feasible.
Writing in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the researchers said: “Excessive sedentariness has emerged as a significant public health concern that incurs increased risk of many chronic conditions, poorer mental health and mortality and poses a substantive economic burden to healthcare systems.”
Health Implications of Sedentary Behaviour
“Adults in high-income countries now spend 11–12 hours per day sedentary, corresponding to over three-quarters of the waking day,” the team added. Regular movement may offset this by improving blood flow and reactivating metabolic processes involved in how the body handles fats and glucose, the team said.
They added: “Experimental evidence suggests that brief, regular movement breaks (i.e. interruptions to prolonged sitting achieved by walking, such as a five-minute walk every half-hour) can counteract the harmful cardiometabolic effects of prolonged sedentary behaviour and improve psychosocial well-being.”
Impact on Work Performance
The survey results indicated that taking short breaks did not affect work performance. The researchers, including experts from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, added: “This large-scale study demonstrates that movement breaks are implementable and effective, supporting their potential as a public health strategy and providing new insights into feasible and effective dosing for real-world implementation that can be integrated into existing guidelines and tested in future trials.”
Expert Commentary
Emily McGrath, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This study looked at how movement breaks affect mood and fatigue, but we also know that sitting for long periods increases the risk of heart and circulatory disease and early death. Taking regular ‘energy snacks’, like a five‑minute walk each hour, can boost mood and support heart health. While busy schedules can make this challenging, the findings suggest that simple additions of movement can improve overall health. However, the study relied on self-reported data and was short-term, so longer research is needed to confirm its impact on heart health.”
