Pushing a shopping cart or vacuum cleaner doesn’t require a lot of effort, but doing this light work every day can help those at risk for knee arthritis avoid disability. The study was published in the BritishMedicalJournal. Scientists identified a group of 1,700 participants between the ages of 45 and 79 from the Osteoarthritis Program study. They did not present with disability, but had knee osteoarthritis or had risk factors for knee osteoarthritis, such as obesity. To track the participants’ daily exercise and exercise intensity, the scientists had the participants wear accelerometers for a week. The data collected was able to reflect the amount of time the participants spent engaged in heavy, moderate and light physical activity. After 2 years, the participants were surveyed. As previously expected, the more time spent in moderate or heavy physical work, the less disability was reported. However, more time spent in light physical activity was also correlated with reduced disability. For example, participants who spent more than 4 hours per day in light physical labor had a 30% lower risk of disability compared to those who spent only 3 hours per day in light physical labor.