Engagement in high levels of physical activity have been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, and all-cause mortality. Conversely, greater amounts of sedentary behavior have been associated with an increased risk of these outcomes. Participation in more physical activity compared to less has also been associated with longer disease-free life expectancy from composite measures of chronic disease. However, research in this area has not included cancer outcomes or

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... d sedentary behavior. This dissertation quantified the associations of physical activity and sedentary behavior with life expectancy free of three types of nonfatal CVD (coronary heart disease, stroke, and heart failure) and four types of cancer (colorectal, lung, prostate, and postmenopausal breast cancer). Analysis was conducted on data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (1987 – 2016). We included 13,534 participants in the CVD analyses and 14,508 participants in the cancer analyses. Life expectancies were estimated separate for men and women. Across all diseases, engagement in LTPA was associated in an inverse dose-response fashion with life expectancy free of each disease. Engaging in LTPA less than the median compared to no LTPA was associated with 0.8 – 1.3 year greater CVD- and cancer-free life expectancy. Engaging in LTPA greater than or equal to the median compared to no LTPA was associated with a longer disease-free life expectancy for coronary heart disease (men-1.5 years, women-1.6 years), stroke (men-1.8 years, women-1.8 years), heart failure (men-1.6 years, women-1.7 years), colorectal cancer (men-2.2 years, women-2.3 years), lung cancer (men-2.1 years, women-2.1 years), prostate cancer (1.5 years), and postmenopausal breast cancer (2.4 years). Viewing TV seldom/never compared to often/very often viewing was associated with longer CVD- and cancer-free life expectancy of 0.8 – 1.2 years for men and women and all diseases except prostate cancer. These findings suggest that enga [...]