Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionary

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Physical activity practice(PA) during pregnancy has been widely recommended. Recently, the American College of Obstetrics&Gynecology has emphasized that regular practice of physical activity during pregnancy, prior to a detailed obstetric assessment, is safe and carries a number of health benefits not only on the pregnant woman but also on the fetus. Scientific evidence suggests that PA during pregnancy improves cardiovascular health, prevents the onset of gestational diabetes and hypertension, shorter postpartum recovery time and facilitates labor METHOD: Descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative-focused study, developed in health service providers in the city of Bogota-Colombia. 397 pregnant women, aged 18-42, were evaluated without medical contraindications for exercise, who voluntarily completed the pregnancy physical activity questionnaire. This questionnaire allows to determine energy expenditure(EE), through metabolic equivalents(MET), in the categories of: household and care work, occupational work, sports or exercise activities and activities intended for transport, relating this EE with weight, size, BMI, weeks and quarter of pregnancy RESULTS: The pregnant women evaluated recorded a body weight of 67.8 ± 10.1 kg; size 1.6 ± 0.1 m; BMI 26.5-3.7 kg/m2. As for EE during the gestational period, per quarter is recorded: 1st-quarter:254 ± 152MET; 2st-quarter:228 ± 122 MET; 3rd-quarter;227 ± 119MET. For pregnant women throughout pregnancy, the mean EE was found to be 231 ± 124MET. As for EE throughout pregnancy, although it decreases over the course of pregnancy, no significant differences were evident in the 3-trimesters. Similarly, no correlations were identified in terms of EE and the period of pregnancy (r<:0,1). The relationship between weight and trimester of pregnancy is highlighted as a significant correlation (r = 0.19;p = 0.0001) CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that the increase in the period of pregnancy does not correlate with an increase in EE, this associated with the daily activities of the assessed pregnant women; and despite a slight decrease in EE relative to the trimester of pregnancy, this decrease is not statistically significant