START TODAY: It is never too late to start exercising, experts say [GETTY]

Just getting off the sofa and walking around during the TV commercials can make a huge difference to your health.

You dont have to do anything strenuous and, for the elderly in particular, its never too late to start.

Professor Dorothy Dunlop, of Northwestern University, Chicago, who studied nearly 2,000 patients with arthritis in their knees, said: It is known that the more time people spend in moderate or vigorous activities, the less likely they are to develop disability.

But this is the first study to show that spending more time in light activities can help prevent disability too.

Her research, published in the British Medical Journal, is important because it means people who are too unwell to undertake any intense physical activity can still benefit simply by moving around.

Doing an extra hours gentle walking or light housework a day can cut your risk of becoming disabled by osteoarthritis by nearly a third.

The researchers defined disability as limitations in performing basic daily activities such as walking across a room, dressing, bathing, eating, using the toilet, getting into bed and more complicated tasks such as cooking, shopping, making phone calls, taking medication and managing money.

Professor Dunlop said: We were delighted to see that more time spent during the day simply moving your body, even at a light intensity, may reduce disability.

Now people with health problems or physical limitations who cannot increase the intensity of their activity have a starting place in the effort to stay independent.

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Keeping fit does beat arthritis: Hour's gentle excercise a day is all you need