Replacing sedentary time with light activity in adolescence can reduce the risk of anxiety disorders

Sedentary behaviour increases through adolescence and most anxiety symptoms first occur during adolescence. We carried out the first prospective study of associations between repeated, accelerometer measured sedentary behaviour and anxiety symptoms in over 4000 young people.We found an association between sedentary behaviour at ages 12, 14, and 16, with anxiety symptoms at age 18, independent of total physical activity (and after accounting for sex, ethnicity, social class, IQ, parental mental health, parental education and baseline anxiety symptoms).Theoretically replacing an hour of daily sedentary behaviour with light activity at ages 12, 14, and 16, was associated with lower anxiety symptoms by age 18 by 15.9%, 12.1% and 14.7%, respectively. Whereas, theoretically replacing an hour of sedentary behaviour with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was not associated with differences in anxiety symptoms.
We conclude that sedentary behaviour is a potential risk factor for increasing anxiety symptoms during adolescence. Instead of focusing on moderate-to-vigorous activity, replacing daily sedentary behaviour with light activity during adolescence could be a more suitable method of reducing future anxiety symptoms.