Physical Activity Patterns and Daily Steps in Brazilian Pregnant Women's Sample

Abstract

Purpose: to analyze the physical activity (PA) level of pregnant women (PW) according to their gestational trimester and to evaluate multiple measurements of PA. Methods: 122 PW, 26.5 ± 5.5 years old, and between the 4th and 37th week of pregnancy participated. PA was evaluated by levels of frequency and intensity, duration of walking, and moderate and vigorous PA; and based on the calculation in METs, determined by IPAQ and a pedometer. Data analysis was done by the Kruskall-Wallis, significance level of P<.05. Results: a significant decrease was found in the duration of moderate PA in the second-trimester group when compared to the duration of the first and the third trimester groups. There were no differences in walking (4.8 days/week) and moderate PA frequency (3.1 days/week) on average across trimesters. When considering the weekly number of steps, PW had in the first trimester taken an average of 10,789.0 ± 5,676.8 steps, in the second trimester 6,812.1 ± 4,092.4 steps, and in the third trimester 6,746.8 ± 3,572.0 steps. There was no significant difference in the weekly total number of steps between trimesters. Conclusion: the PA level of PW, using IPAQ or pedometer, was similar regardless of the trimester of the pregnancy.