Desk-confined employees would be able to ward off considerable health risks if they take a break every 20 minutes and flex some muscles.

Not only that eye strains, which usually occur due to prolonged focus on computer screen, will be reduced but the possibility of developing diabetes will also be cut off by 30 percent, as shown by a new study published on Wednesday by the American Diabetes Association.

According to Associate Professor David Dunstan of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, workers normally glued on their seats would give their bodies quite a favour if they would break their seat routine regularly.

As lead researcher of the new study, Dunstan said their findings somehow confirmed that activities within the regular break could bring down the glucose and insulin levels of an individual, thereby boosting his or her body's chances of fighting off diabetes.

"Inside this study we used breaks every 20 minutes, just for two-minute activity bouts, and showed that it was, it substantially improved the body's response to a glucose challenge," Dunstan was reported by ABC as saying.

Drivers, call centre agents and other office workers have been identified as the most to benefit from the study's results, showing that these people "could improve their health by simply breaking up their sitting time with frequent activity breaks."

Dunstan added that regularly leaving the chair would allow the human body to manufacture a better blood glucose profile, supporting the idea that in a single work-day "if you get up and move about and contract those muscles you're going to help you body clear that glucose."

Earlier studies have already cited the ills of staying far too long in a virtual stationary position and for office workers, breaking that unhealthy routine means springing up from the comfy chair and maybe engage in some form of exercises.

And Dunstan reminded that it doesn't matter if the exercise would strenuous or light.

"In this study we actually compared walking at a light pace, so that's just equivalent to strolling, and then on a subsequent experimental day we got the people to walk at a moderate pace," Dunstan said.

The idea that light activities even contribute in lowering glucose or insulin levels was a boost especially for office workers that would find it hard to escape from their chair every hour, the study said.

Dunstan added that the responsibility for a healthy workplace environment lies not only on employees but more so on employers.

The researcher stressed that keeping employees healthy and comfortable while working will only redound to the overall benefit of the business operation.

The study came out as Australian health authorities recently reported that at least 60 percent of the population have been classified as obese or overweight and therefore run the risk of possibly developing diabetes, ABC wrote.