Just two weeks of sitting around at Christmas could do lasting damage, new research suggests. The British study found healthy adults who normally took around 10,000 steps a day saw dramatic reductions in strength and essential markers of health, after just a fortnight of taking it easy.

Axar.az reports citing Telegraph that Experts warned that the slowdown could be particularly devastating for older people, in causing physiological changes that might never be reversed.

The trial involved 47 adults, half of whom were aged 60 and over, with the rest in their 20s and 30s.

All were told to restrict activity levels to just 1,500 steps daily, for two weeks.