One in four people worldwide do not meet daily exercise guidelines but need only undertake simple tasks to reduce risk of death and heart disease according to a new study.

Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, tracked the exercise of more than 130,000 people in 17 countries and found that, irrespective of a person’s home country or income, any form of physical activity reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular disease.

The research, published in The Lancet, concluded that if the world's population met physical activity guidelines, eight per cent of deaths (equivalent to around one in 12 cases) and 4.6 per cent of cardiovascular disease cases (almost one in 20 cases) could be prevented.

World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines recommend 30 minutes of activity a day to raise the heart rate. Although previous research from high-income countries has shown that leisure activity helps prevent heart disease and death, the lastest study included people from low and middle-income countries where leisure time physical activity is not as prevalent.

“By including low and middle-income countries we were able to determine the benefits of activities such as active commuting, having an active job or even doing housework,” said lead author Dr Scott Lear, professor of Simon Fraser University’s faculty of health sciences in British Columbia, Canada.

“The affordability of other cardiovascular disease interventions, such as generic drugs and consuming fruits and vegetables, are often beyond the reach of many people in low-income and middle-income countries.

“However, physical activity represents a low-cost approach to preventing cardiovascular disease and our study provides robust evidence to support public health interventions to increase all forms of physical activity in these regions.”

In the study, 130,843 participants aged 35-70 years old from urban and rural areas completed questionnaires on their levels of physical activity. Participants completed follow-up visits with the research team at least every three years to record information on cardiovascular disease and death.

Of the 106,970 people who met the activity guidelines, 3.8 per cent developed cardiovascular disease, compared to 5.1 per cent of people who did not (23,549 people). Risk of mortality was also higher for people who did not meet the recommended amount of activity – 6.4 per cent compared to 4.2 per cent for people who met guidelines.