Environmental Supports, Expectations, and Barriers to Leisure-Time Physical Activity During Pregnancy: A Rural-Urban...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Maternal Health
• Rural Health

Background:

• Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy offers significant health benefits.
• Pregnant individuals in rural areas may encounter unique obstacles to maintaining PA.
• Understanding these disparities is crucial for promoting maternal well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and its correlates (expectations, barriers, environmental supports) based on rurality.
• To determine if rurality influences the relationship between these correlates and LTPA during pregnancy.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 374 pregnant individuals from Iowa and West Virginia assessed LTPA, outcome expectations, barriers, and environmental supports across trimesters.
• Participants were categorized by rurality (urban, micropolitan, small town rural).
• Statistical models, including mixed-effects models, were used for analysis, adjusting for covariates.

Main Results:

• Unadjusted analyses showed less LTPA in small-town rural participants compared to urban, but this was not significant after adjustment.
• Small-town rural participants reported fewer environmental supports for PA than urban participants.
• Rurality did not moderate the associations between LTPA correlates and LTPA.

Conclusions:

• After adjustment, rurality was not linked to differences in LTPA, exercise expectations, or barriers.
• Fewer environmental supports for PA were reported in small-town rural areas, but this did not correlate with LTPA.
• Further research with larger samples is needed to explore if enhancing environmental supports can increase PA in pregnant individuals.