Women may be able to delay natural menopause by engaging in sexual activity once a week, a UK study suggests.

The 10-year follow-up of nearly 3000 women (mean age 46) revealed that women who had sex weekly were 28% less likely to experience menopause than those who had intercourse less than monthly.

Writing in Royal Society Open Science, researchers from University College London said the results supported their hypothesis that ovulation became obsolete when pregnancy was impossible because of sexual inactivity.

Sexual activity delivered “cues” to the body that suggested pregnancy was possible, they explained.