<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_FON-2019-0020_s_006_w2aab3b7b6b1b6b1aab1c17b1Aa"><h3>Objective</h3><p>To assess the patterns and intensities of physical activity among pregnant women in southwestern China, which help us create a fitness regimen based on the 2002 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines for exercise during pregnancy.</p></sec><sec id="j_FON-2019-0020_s_007_w2aab3b7b6b1b6b1aab1c17b2Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>A cross-sectional study was performed to recruit pregnant women at a prenatal checking visit clinic with the self-administered Chinese version of Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ).</p></sec><sec id="j_FON-2019-0020_s_008_w2aab3b7b6b1b6b1aab1c17b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>A total of 1179 Chinese pregnant women were enrolled, of whom 92.60% were classified as not meeting the ACOG guidelines. By intensity, 47.36% of the score was attributed to light-intensity activities (1.5 to &lt;3.0 metabolic equivalent [MET]) in the first trimester; the other 2 trimesters were similar. By patterns, about 45.15% of the score was attributed to inactivity. More than 82.35% of enrolled pregnant women regarded slowly walking as the most common type of exercise during pregnancy.</p></sec><sec id="j_FON-2019-0020_s_009_w2aab3b7b6b1b6b1aab1c17b4Aa"><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>This study represents a group of Chinese women who maintained an inactive lifestyle, including low-intensity activities and unitary type of exercises during their pregnancy. Health-care providers are advised to provide appropriate physical activity guidelines to pregnant women. Development of MET-hours/week recommendations is warranted to promote greater physical activity during pregnancy.</p></sec></abstract>

ObjectiveTo assess the patterns and intensities of physical activity among pregnant women in southwestern China, which help us create a fitness regimen based on the 2002 American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) guidelines for exercise during pregnancy.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed to recruit pregnant women at a prenatal checking visit clinic with the self-administered Chinese version of Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ).ResultsA total of 1179 Chinese pregnant women were enrolled, of whom 92.60% were classified as not meeting the ACOG guidelines. By intensity, 47.36% of the score was attributed to light-intensity activities (1.5 to <3.0 metabolic equivalent [MET]) in the first trimester; the other 2 trimesters were similar. By patterns, about 45.15% of the score was attributed to inactivity. More than 82.35% of enrolled pregnant women regarded slowly walking as the most common type of exercise during pregnancy.ConclusionsThis study represents a group of Chinese women who maintained an inactive lifestyle, including low-intensity activities and unitary type of exercises during their pregnancy. Health-care providers are advised to provide appropriate physical activity guidelines to pregnant women. Development of MET-hours/week recommendations is warranted to promote greater physical activity during pregnancy.

Assessment of physical activity status among pregnant women in southwestern China

Frontiers of Nursing

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

ObjectiveTo assess the patterns and intensities of physical activity among pregnant women in southwestern China, which help us create a fitness regimen based...

Assessment of physical activity status among pregnant women in southwestern China

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Jul 10, 2019

Page range: 135 - 141

Received: Sep 08, 2018

Accepted: Nov 30, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/FON-2019-0020

Keywords
physical activity, cross-sectional studies, pregnancy, inactive lifestyle, metabolic equivalent, MET

© 2019 Ya-Nan Yin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Assessment of physical activity status among pregnant women in southwestern China

Article Category: Original article

Published Online: Jul 10, 2019

Page range: 135 - 141

Received: Sep 08, 2018

Accepted: Nov 30, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/FON-2019-0020

Keywordsphysical activity, cross-sectional studies, pregnancy, inactive lifestyle, metabolic equivalent, MET

© 2019 Ya-Nan Yin et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
physical activity, cross-sectional studies, pregnancy, inactive lifestyle, metabolic equivalent, MET