Vol:.(1234567890)
Maternal and Child Health Journal (2018) 22:968–977
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-018-2473-6
1 3
Measuring Sedentary Behavior During Pregnancy: Comparison
Between Self-reported and Objective Measures
Miguel Ángel Oviedo‑Caro
1
· Javier Bueno‑Antequera
1
· Diego Munguía‑Izquierdo
1
Published online: 9 February 2018
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
Objectives To quantify and compare the sedentary time estimated by the Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) and the
sedentary time objectively measured by a multi-sensor monitor (SWA) in pregnant women. Methods One hundred eighty-six
participants answered the SBQ and wore the SWA at least 7 valid days. The concordance, correlation, agreement and relative
activity levels between both measures of sedentary time were examined. Differences of sedentary time between weekday and
weekend and between groups stratified by sociodemographic and clinical characteristic were evaluated by one-way analysis
of variance. Results Pregnant women were sedentary the 64% of their waking hours. Television viewing is the most prevalent
sedentary behavior. The concordance, correlation, and agreement between SBQ and SWA were weak, yet a significant cor-
relation in weekday and average day sedentary time (r = 0.23 and 0.20, P = 0.001 and 0.008, respectively) was observed. A
significant linear trend was found for increasing sedentary time between both methods using a relative activity levels analysis.
Conclusions for Practice Pregnant women experience high amount of sedentary time, for approximately half of the day. The
SBQ shows a low validity and agreement, but strong ability to rank individuals compared with SWA in pregnant women.
Keywords Sedentary behavior · Pregnancy · Activity monitor · Self-report
Signicance
This study is the first to quantify and compare the sedentary
time estimated by a specific multiple-domain questionnaire
and objectively measured by a multi-sensor monitor in preg-
nant women. The SBQ shows a strong ability to rank indi-
viduals in respect to their sedentary activities. The combined
use of SBQ and multi-sensor monitor may be appropriate to
capture all aspect of sedentary behavior. The quantification
of sedentary behaviors allows the exploration of associa-
tions between sedentary activities and maternal and fetal
health outcomes and the assessment of the effectiveness of
intervention strategies promoting health benefits for preg-
nant women.
Introduction
Sedentary behavior can be defined as any waking behavior
characterized by an energy expenditure of ≤ 1.5 metabolic
equivalents (METs) while in a sitting or reclining posture
(Tremblay et al. 2010). A sedentary lifestyle has been
described as a major public health problem of the twenty-
first century (Blair 2009). Several longitudinal studies have
shown the negative health consequences of a sedentary life-
style (Thorp et al. 2011; Seguin et al. 2014; Pavey et al.
2015) independent of a lack of physical activity (Hamilton
et al. 2008).
An increase in sedentary behavior during pregnancy has
been associated with adverse perinatal health outcomes
including lower birth weight (Both et al. 2010), abnormal
glucose tolerance (Oken et al. 2006), increased risk for ges-
tational diabetes mellitus (Oken et al. 2006; Zhang et al.
2006), decreased insulin sensitivity and increased insulin
secretion (Gradmark et al. 2011), and excessive gestational
weight gain (Jiang et al. 2012). Important strategies to man-
age healthy weight gain during pregnancy and reduce the
prevalence of chronic disease include engaging in regular
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this
article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s1099 5-018-2473-6) contains
supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Diego Munguía-Izquierdo
dmunizq@upo.es
1
Section of Physical Education and Sports, Department
of Sports and Computer Science, University Pablo de
Olavide, 41013 Seville, Spain
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera