People who exercise just a little bit each day may boost their lifespan while TV addicts could be taking years off their life, two studies published on Tuesday suggest.

Chi-Pang Wen of Taiwan's National Health Research Institutes and Jackson Pui Man Wai of the National Taiwan Sport University looked at more than 400,000 people who took part in a medical screening programme between 1996 and 2008. The volunteers were then followed for eight years on average.