Light exercise as good as any

IF you are not a gym junkie, but want to keep reasonably fit - don't sweat it. Research has found that even modest physical activity of about 70 minutes a week can improve your health of sedentary, overweight post-menopausal women.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association study, exercising for approximately 72 minutes per week over about three days was associated with a significant improvement in fitness compared with women in the non-exercise control group.

"This information can be used to support future recommendations and should be encouraging to sedentary adults who find it difficult to find a time for 150 minutes of activity per week, let alone 60 minutes per day,'' said the team from the Louisiana State University system.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) experts have recommended at least 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise every day.

The study of 464 sedentary overweight or obese post-menopausal women with a body mass index of 25 to 43 was carried out from April 2001 to June 2005. A BMI reading over 30 indicates obesity.

More than one third of the US population is overweight, and 60 million US adults are obese.