Overview

• Anses now advises adults to interrupt sitting with 3–5 minutes of low‑to‑moderate walking every 30 minutes, typically around 4–6 km/h.
• The formal advice follows an evidence review of more than 75 studies that found frequent short walks improve post‑meal glycaemia and insulinaemia, with suggestive gains for attention, reaction time and mood.
• The update replaces the 2016 guidance to break up sitting every 90–120 minutes and consolidates temporary pandemic‑era advice into a permanent standard.
• For children, the agency notes that about three minutes of higher‑intensity activity every half‑hour appears even more beneficial.
• With French adults averaging about seven sedentary hours a day, Anses says adoption will require workplace and school changes, and it stresses the breaks complement WHO weekly activity targets.