This study of New Zealand women showed that sedentary time must be replaced with at least moderate intensity physical activity to reap health benefits, and that Māori women would receive the most benefit. The study included 175 women (Māori n = 37, Pacific n = 54, and New Zealand European n = 84) aged 16-45 years with high body mass index (≥25 kg/m2) and high body fat percentage (≥30%). Isotemporal substitution paradigms reallocated 30 min/day of sedentary behaviour to varying intensities of physical activity. At moderate intensity, Māori women were predicted to show a 14.83% reduction in body fat, a 10.74% reduction in android fat and a 55.27% reduction in insulin levels. At the same intensity, Pacific women were predicted to show 6.40% and 19.48% improvements in waist-to-hip and android-to-gynoid ratios, respectively. At moderate- vigorous intensity, Māori women were predicted to show reductions of 15.33% in body mass index, 9.98% in waist circumference, 16.16% in body fat, 12.54% in android fat, 10.04% in gynoid fat, 55.58% in insulin levels and 43.86% in leptin levels. For Pacific women, a 5.30% improvement in waist-to-hip-ratio was predicted.
