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Taking a ‘walking break’ every half an hour could reduce the risk of diabetes in millions of office workers, according to the Daily Mail. 

Walking for less than two minutes before sitting down again was more effective than a brisk 30-minute stroll before work.

Volunteers who regularly wandered around for just one minute and 40 seconds had lower blood sugar and insulin levels, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Raised sugar and insulin readings are warning signs that type two diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease and strokes, could be setting in.

According to the charity Diabetes UK, at the current rate of increase, the numbers affected by type two diabetes will rise from around 2.5 million currently to four million by 2025.

The condition develops when the body loses its ability to make use of glucose, a type of sugar that is released when we eat food and turned into a source of energy for use by muscles.

Circulation starts to suffer and blood vessels in areas such as the heart, the legs, and the eyes, can be irreparably damaged.

Early symptoms, such as excess thirst and increased urination, are due to the effects of glucose accumulating in the blood.

Left untreated, type two diabetes can raise the risk of heart attacks, blindness and amputation.

Rising obesity levels and too little exercise are thought to be storing up major problems for the future.

But the latest findings, by researchers from the University of Otago in New Zealand, show brief walkabouts could be all that’s needed to lower the risks.

They recruited 70 healthy adults and, in the first part of the experiment, got them to sit for nine hours.

They had their blood glucose and insulin levels measured each time they had a meal-replacement drink after one hour, four hours and seven hours.

These so-called postprandial tests tell doctors how well the body is absorbing sugar from foods.

In part two, they were asked to walk briskly for half an hour before sitting for nine hours.

And finally, they sat for nine hours again but this time walked around for precisely one minute 40 seconds every half an hour.

The results showed postprandial blood sugar levels were lower after the brief strolls than when volunteers walked before sitting, or when they did not budge at all.

The findings back up a 2011 study which showed office workers who took lots of brief breaks had higher levels of ‘good’ cholesterol than those who remained at their desks.

In a report on the latest findings researchers said: ‘Regular activity breaks were more effective than continuous physical activity at decreasing blood sugar and insulin levels in healthy, normal-weight adults.’