If you sit all day at an office and worry about its effect on your weight and health, take a few breaks.

That's the advice from a new study that finds that people who sit for extended periods of time without taking short breaks are at higher risk for heart disease than those who take more frequent timeouts to stand up and walk around.

People who take 'screen breaks' most regularly have waistlines that are more than an inch and an half (4.1cm) narrower than those who take them the least, according to the study, published online in the European Heart Journal.

This research shows that making the small effort to get up from the desk or sofa regularly can pay large health dividends.

The cardiovascular risk that stems from remaining sedentary for prolonged periods of time (at the office, for example) manifests itself in the form of larger waists, higher blood pressure, higher levels of triglycerides, increased body inflammation and lower levels of "good" cholesterol, the authors noted.

What's more, the negative impact of such lengthy bouts of inactivity seems to apply even to those who routinely go to the gym.
Even if you exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, what you do for the rest of the day may also be important for your cardiovascular health. This research suggests that even small changes to a person's activity levels, such as standing up regularly, might help to lower cardiovascular risk.