Abstract
Abstract Objectives: to describe the prevalence of sufficient leisure-time physical activity (LPA) in the trimesters of pregnancy and to test its association with sociodemographic and contextual characteristics. Methods: cross-sectional study that in 2019 analyzed data from 3580 pregnant women residing in Santa Catarina, Brazil. LPA was categorized as “active” (150 minutes or more of LPA/week) and “inactive” (less than 150 minutes). Results: the prevalence for the recommended level of LPA was 15.3% (CI95%= 14.1-16.4) before pregnancy, gradually declining to 7.8% (CI95%= 7.3-8.7), 7.3% (CI95%= 6.58.2), and 5.8% (CI95%= 5.1-6.7) in the following trimesters of pregnancy. Higher level of education was associated with the four outcomes, increasing the chance of being active by 79% in the third trimester of pregnancy. In the second trimester, living in a neighborhood that stimulates physical activity increased the chance of being active by 39%. In the third trimester, having received guidance from a health professional was associated with an increase of 60% in the chance of practicing LPA. Conclusion: the prevalence of recommended LPA is low among pregnant women and living in a neighborhood favorable to outdoor practices, greater education level and receiving guidance from health professionals increased the chance of pregnant women to be active.
Highlights
The leisure-time physical activity (LPA) is positively associated with positive outcomes for the health of women and children to be born.[1]
This study found a low prevalence of leisure-time physical activity among pregnant women, which decreased approximately 50% in the pregnancy period when compared to the pre-pregnancy period
Having a higher level of education, receiving guidance from a health professional on the practice of PA and living in an environment that encourages the practice of PA are associated with the practice of physical activity among pregnant women
Summary
The leisure-time physical activity (LPA) is positively associated with positive outcomes for the health of women and children to be born.[1] It is associated with a lower risk for development of gestational diabetes, hypertension, excessive gestational weight gain, preeclampsia and symptoms of postpartum depression.[1,2] In addition, so far it is highlighted that there is no evidence of negative effects of moderate physical activity in healthy pregnant women.[3]. The prevalence of LPA among pregnant women varies substantially according to the literature, ranging from 4.4% to 47.1% between different countries and methods used.[2,4] In Brazilian pregnant women, national studies have shown a low prevalence of this outcome. There are few studies conducted with Brazilian pregnant women from a large and probabilistic sample
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