D IMO

as effective as (sedatives), and less addictive then (most sedatives)

Wow...nice question. D

@ Shankar the underline was
To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective as, and less addictive than, most sedatives.
A. effective as, and
B. as effective as, while being
C. effectively equal to, but
D. as effective as, and
E. effective, and

Somehow i answered E(effective, and) and that sounds correct too. Can you please justify the reason for choosing D.

nidhis.1408 wrote:To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective as, and less addictive than, most sedatives.
A. effective as, and
B. as effective as, while being
C. effectively equal to, but
D. as effective as, and
E. effective, and

D - uses the right idiomatic expression
B - is wrong NOT ONLY bcoz it changes the meaning a bit but also bcoz it uses 'WHILE' statement to modify a noun(while is an adverb so cannot modify a noun "WHILE BEING ADDICTIVE). I have seen a similar sentence in OG, WHILE BEING A YOUNG RUNAWAY')

If you had chosen 'E' the sentence would read as below;

To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective, and less addictive than, most sedatives.

Notice there is a comma after effective, so it would read To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective,

Its obvious you compare it to sedatives but the sentence as it is would be incomplete because of the comma. Makes sense?

nidhis.1408 wrote:@ Shankar the underline was
To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective as, and less addictive than, most sedatives.
A. effective as, and
B. as effective as, while being
C. effectively equal to, but
D. as effective as, and
E. effective, and

Somehow i answered E(effective, and) and that sounds correct too. Can you please justify the reason for choosing D.

nidhis.1408 wrote:To relieve anxiety, moderate exercise can be equally effective as, and less addictive than, most sedatives.
A. effective as, and
B. as effective as, while being
C. effectively equal to, but
D. as effective as, and
E. effective, and

+1 for D