Stand up to your health, says study

An international team has carried out the study and found that the simple office routines can help lower levels of potentially dangerous glucose and fats in the blood, `The Sun` newspaper reported.

The study of almost 5,000 staff found standing more often made hearts healthier -even for those who led superfit lifestyles out of the office. Those who took the most breaks had an average 4.1cm smaller waist circumference.

But those who sat around had more problems, including high levels of bad cholesterol.

"To keep staff fit, bosses should order them to stand for meetings, use the stairs instead of lifts and even use loos on other floors," said researchers.

Study leader Dr Genevieve Healy, from the University of Queensland, Australia, said the potential health risks of prolonged sitting are just being realised.

She added: "Even small changes, which could be as little as standing for one minute, might help to lower this health risk. Stand Up, Move More, More Often could be a slogan to get this message across."