(HealthDay)—Replacing half an hour of daily sitting time with even light physical activity is associated with a reduction in mortality risk among less active adults, according to a study published online March 21 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Erika Rees-Punia, Ph.D., from the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the mortality risk reductions associated with replacing 30 minutes/day of sitting with an equivalent duration of light or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The analysis included 37,924 men and 54,617 women participating in the Cancer Prevention Study-II Nutrition Cohort; 14,415 men and 13,358 women died during follow-up (from 1999 to 2014).

The researchers found that among the least active participants (≤17 minutes/day MVPA), the replacement of 30 minutes/day of sitting with light physical activity was associated with a 14 percent mortality risk reduction (hazard ratio [HR], 0.86) and replacement with MVPA was associated with a 45 percent reduction in mortality risk (HR, 0.55). Among moderately active participants, similar associations were seen (light physical activity replacement: HR, 0.94; MVPA replacement: HR, 0.83). Substituting sitting time with light physical activity or MVPA was not associated with a reduction in mortality risk for the most active (MVPA >38 minutes/day; HRs, 1 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.03] and 0.99 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.95 to 1.02], respectively).

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