Strong evidence
Movement at any intensity and the risk of dying early
How much physical activity do adults need, and does light movement count?
Bottom line
The WHO recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults1 and stresses that some activity is better than none2. Measured with movement sensors, even light activity is linked to a much lower risk of premature death4.
The World Health Organization's 2020 guidelines say all adults should do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, each week, plus regular muscle strengthening1.
The guidelines also say that some activity is better than none, that more is better, and that people should reduce sedentary time, although the evidence was not enough to set a safe sitting limit2.
A harmonised meta-analysis used accelerometers, not questionnaires, to measure activity in 36,383 adults with an average age of 62.63. The most active quarter had about a quarter of the risk of death of the least active quarter (hazard ratio 0.27)3.
Light activity on its own counted. People in the top quarter for light activity had a hazard ratio of 0.38 compared with the bottom quarter4. The most sedentary quarter had 2.63 times the hazard of the least sedentary5.
What this does not show
- The accelerometer studies are observational. People who are already ill tend to move less, which can make activity look more protective than it is.
- The accelerometer data come from middle-aged and older adults, with a median follow-up of 5.8 years.
Claims and sources
WHO 2020: all adults should undertake 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity, aerobic physical activity per week, and regular muscle-strengthening activity is recommended for all age groups.
- Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, Borodulin K, et al. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
The WHO 2020 guidelines reaffirm that some physical activity is better than none and more is better, and recommend reducing sedentary behaviour, although evidence was insufficient to quantify a sedentary threshold.
- Bull FC, Al-Ansari SS, Biddle S, Borodulin K, et al. (2020). World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2020-102955
In individual-level data from eight cohorts (n = 36,383; mean age 62.6), the most active quarter of total physical activity had a mortality hazard ratio of 0.27 (95% CI 0.23 to 0.32) compared with the least active quarter.
- Ekelund U, Tarp J, Steene-Johannessen J, Hansen BH, et al. (2019). Dose-response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis. BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.l4570
For light physical activity, the top quarter had a mortality hazard ratio of 0.38 (95% CI 0.28 to 0.51) compared with the bottom quarter.
- Ekelund U, Tarp J, Steene-Johannessen J, Hansen BH, et al. (2019). Dose-response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis. BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.l4570
The most sedentary quarter had a mortality hazard ratio of 2.63 (95% CI 1.94 to 3.56) compared with the least sedentary quarter.
- Ekelund U, Tarp J, Steene-Johannessen J, Hansen BH, et al. (2019). Dose-response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: systematic review and harmonised meta-analysis. BMJ. doi:10.1136/bmj.l4570
Version 1. First published , updated . Approved by The Human First editors on . Sources last verified 2026-10-24. Machine-readable version.