"The groundwork of all happiness is health." - Leigh Hunt

Even short periods of movement can reverse the harmful effects of sitting.

The research we're .

You've probably heard that spending an excessive amount of time sitting is bad on your health. But a study published on January 14 American Journal of Epidemiology This suggests that it might be possible to offset a few of this damage by engaging in brief periods of movement throughout the day.

Researchers recruited 8,000 people age 45 and older and asked them to wear activity monitors for per week. The device tracks them throughout the day, how much they sit and the way much they move.

The researchers then followed the participants for 10 years. What they found is that even light movement throughout the day seems to counteract a few of the negative effects of sitting. They determined that individuals who did half-hour of sunshine activity, equivalent to vacuuming as a substitute of sitting, had a 17 percent lower risk of dying throughout the study. They also estimated that individuals who did half-hour of moderate-intensity activity a day, equivalent to running or playing sports, had a 35 percent lower death rate throughout the study period.

Lower mortality rates were also observed when people didn’t move , but as a substitute broke up their sitting with one to 5 minutes of activity.

Bottom line: Even in the event you don't move quite a bit, just a little is healthier than nothing.

Photo: © Darenwoodward/Getty Images