Originally published January 12 2006
St. Louis researchers suggest pregnant women get more exercise
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Ann M. Petersen and colleagues at Saint Louis University have published a study that proposes pregnant women should get 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day.
Ideally, pregnant women who do not have any medical or obstetric complications should participate in at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week, the same level recommended for all individuals, according to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
"There appears to be a discrepancy between the professional recommendations for physical activity during pregnancy and what women have actually been doing," write Dr. Ann M. Petersen and colleagues at Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Few studies have investigated the frequency, duration and type of activity that women perform while pregnant, and those that have did not focus on whether the women met the recommended guidelines.
To investigate, the researchers analyzed data collected by telephone in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000 from more than 150,000 women, 6,528 of whom were pregnant.
Nonpregnant women were more likely than pregnant women to meet the national guidelines for moderate and vigorous activity, the researchers report in the journal, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
"Based on our national survey, only one of every six pregnant women compared to one of every four nonpregnant women are meeting this recommendation," Leet told Reuters Health.
In 1994, for example, 28 percent of nonpregnant women reported participating in regular vigorous or moderate physical activity, compared with 20 percent of pregnant women.
Women who meet the recommended physical activity levels while pregnant tended to be younger than their counterparts, nonHispanic white, more educated and unmarried.
They were also more likely to be nonsmokers and to have higher incomes, the researchers note.
Overall, walking was the most common activity among the women, reported by 52 percent of pregnant women and 45 percent of nonpregnant women.
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