According to experts,  people should take an active break from sitting every 30 minutes.Photo:  file 

People with desk jobs are at a greater health risk than they realise, according to a latest research.

A new research showed that people who sit for more than seven hours a day are more likely to be overweight, obese, die prematurely, and have higher chances of being diagnosed with cancer and type two diabetes.

Sitting in one position for long periods tends to slow the metabolism.

According to the research, most adults in United Kingdom spent about seven hours a day sitting or lying, and this generally increases with age.

Experts advised that people should take an active break from sitting every 30 minutes.

However, another research suggested that exercising for at least 60 minutes a day can offset the negative effects of sitting too much throughout the day.

The link between illness and sitting first emerged in the 1950s, when researchers found London bus drivers were twice as likely to have heart attacks as their bus conductor colleagues.

However, the research evidence is based on observational studies, which have only shown an association between sitting and ill health but not a direct cause.