By Charlotte Reid 
The nature of many jobs and modern lifestyles force us to spend much of the day sitting down.
Science confirms the amount of daily exercise needed to combat the harmful effects of a sedentary lifestyle.
Low levels of physical activity, combined with long hours of sedentary behaviour, are linked to an increased risk of serious illness and premature death. The nature of many jobs and modern lifestyles force us to spend much of the day sitting down, so it is important to find time each day to compensate for the lack of movement.
Various scientific studies have explored, with mixed results, the amount of physical activity needed to counteract a sedentary lifestyle. While some estimate that 60 to 75 minutes of exercise per day is needed, others suggest that the amount is actually much less. So how many minutes of physical activity are needed to counteract a sedentary lifestyle?
How can we reduce the risk of death linked to a sedentary lifestyle?
A meta-analysis published in 2020, which evaluated data from more than 44,000 people in four different countries, indicates that it is probably not necessary to spend more than an hour a day on physical activity. The researchers used a statistical model to examine how different levels of physical activity affected the risk of death, as 3,451 people (7.8% of the sample) died during this time.
Participants spent between 8.5 and 10.5 hours a day in sedentary activities, while moderate to vigorous physical activity varied between 8 and 35 minutes a day. In the group with the least physical activity and the most sedentary lifestyle, the risk of death was up to 263% higher than in the most active group.
However, people with high levels of physical activity did not show a significant increase in the risk of death, even if they spent more time sitting.
The study concluded that spending a lot of time sitting increases the risk of death in people who are physically inactive. However, doing between 30 and 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per day can reduce that risk, a finding lower than many previous estimates.