Trend of physical activity and sedentary time during pregnancy and related determinants

Abstract

Aim: Usually physical activity (PA) declines from pre-pregnancy to different pregnancy trimesters. This study aimed to evaluate the patterns of PA and its related factors in pregnant women. Subject and methods: This longitudinal study was conducted among pregnant women. PA was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect information on demographic variables, BMI, some pregnancy complications, and season of pregnancy. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the association between related factors with insufficient PA and excessive sedentary time (ST) in each trimester of pregnancy. Moreover, random effects logistic regression was used to determine the longitudinal association between studied variables and insufficient PA and excessive ST. Results: A total of 2900 pregnant women with a mean (SD) age of 29.96 (5.21) years were studied. The prevalence of insufficient PA (i.e., PA level less than 600 MET-min/week) from the first to the third trimester was 41.7, 41.9, and 43.17, respectively. The prevalence of excessive ST (i.e., ST more than 420 minutes a day) was 20.7, 20.7, and 19.3, respectively. There was significant association between risk of insufficient PA during pregnancy with baseline BMI status (OR (obes vs normal weight 0.73; 95 CI 0.55–0.97). The risk of insufficient PA of participants with vaginal bleeding in the first trimester and during pregnancy was nearly 50 more than pregnant women without this medical complication. Furthermore, there was significant association between the risks of insufficient PA in the first trimester with season of onset pregnancy. Conclusion: Longitudinal assessment of PA on data from this large study showed that the insufficient PA increased during pregnancy. Furthermore, the findings revealed that BMI status at onset of pregnancy and medical complication could affect the amount of PA of pregnant women during pregnancy. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2023.