Moments away from desk can reduce cardiac risk

LONDON - Taking minute-long breaks from your desk can cut down chances of a heart attack. People who are up and about, adding up to more than two hours daily, tend to have smaller waists and lower blood pressure.

Researchers studied the habits of 4,757 adults over the course of a week, the European Heart Journal reports. Each participant wore an accelerometer, a small device fitted to the hip to measure how much time they spend walking and running.

Their waist size, blood pressure and the level of C-reactive protein in blood, which is often high in people at risk of heart disease, were also measured, according to the Daily Mail.

The researchers, from the University of Queensland in Australia, found that those who took the most breaks had waists up to four centimetre smaller than those who were more sedentary.