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<article xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" dtd-version="1.0" article-type="allergy-and-immunology" lang="en">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">JOHS</journal-id>
<journal-id journal-id-type="nlm-ta">Journ of Health Scien</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Journal of HealthCare Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="pubmed">Journ of Health Scien</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="ppub">2231-2196</issn>
<issn pub-type="opub">0975-5241</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name>Radiance Research Academy</publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">398</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">http://dx.doi.org/10.52533/JOHS.2025.50402</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi-url"/>
<article-categories>
<subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
<subject>Allergy and Immunology</subject>
</subj-group>
</article-categories>
<title-group>
<article-title>Attitudes and Behaviors of Saudi Pregnant Women Towards Gestational Weight Gain and Exercise during Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study
</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Hawsawi</surname>
<given-names>Omniyyah A.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Kabli</surname>
<given-names>Batool A.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Bahakeem</surname>
<given-names>Reem F.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Zaqzouq</surname>
<given-names>Jumanah M.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Qadah</surname>
<given-names>Yara S.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Alotaibi</surname>
<given-names>Bayader K.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Sindy</surname>
<given-names>Anas A.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Kalantan</surname>
<given-names>Razan S.</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname>Tahir</surname>
<given-names>Fadwah</given-names>
</name>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<pub-date pub-type="ppub">
<day>29</day>
<month>04</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>5</volume>
<issue>4</issue>
<fpage>131</fpage>
<lpage>143</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>This article is copyright of Popeye Publishing, 2009</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2009</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">
<license-p>This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) Licence. You may share and adapt the material, but must give appropriate credit to the source, provide a link to the licence, and indicate if changes were made.</license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<abstract>
<p>Background: Women having higher gestational weight gain (GWG) have been associated with a delivery of a neonate having low 5-minute Apgar score, seizures, hypoglycemia, polycythemia, meconium aspiration syndrome, and large for gestational age (LGA) compared with pregnant women who adhered to weight gain guidelines, as shown in multivariable analyses. Therefore, our study aims to determine the factors associated with inappropriate GWG, including physical, lifestyle, knowledge, and primarily psychological factors among pregnant women.
Methods: We conducted a self-administered cross-sectional survey among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia between May 2023 and December 2023. Data were collected via a self-administered online questionnaire using Google Forms distributed through social media. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS program version 25.
Results: Five hundred women completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 95.7%. Regarding weight change during pregnancy, 81.6% reported gaining weight. Approximately 40% of participants reported gaining about 5-9 kg. Surprisingly, 58.6% of participants said they were uncomfortable with their current weight. When assessing attitudes towards weight gain during pregnancy, 60.8% strongly agreed that reading about the importance of healthy nutrition can help prevent excessive weight gain. More than 40% strongly agreed that healthy nutrition practices, attending groups focused on healthy eating, and advice from their doctors about excess weight can help manage weight during pregnancy.
Conclusion: Improving knowledge, attitude, and other factors linked to weight gain is important for better nutritional and psychological health in pregnant women, which can lead to better pregnancy outcomes. Supporting psychological well-being, promoting physical activity, and encouraging healthier lifestyle habits and knowledge can help reduce the risk of excessive weight gain during pregnancy.
</p>
</abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd>Attitude</kwd>
<kwd> Knowledge</kwd>
<kwd> Weight Gain</kwd>
<kwd> Pregnancy</kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
</article>