18 Although a new multi-sensor monitor that overcomes these limitations has been validated on pregnant women, 18 none of the standardized physical activity questionnaire has been validated against this monitor in this population.ĭespite the large amount of Spanish-speaking people in the world, to our knowledge there is currently no validated Spanish version of the PPAQ (PPAQ-S), which takes into account the cultural differences of Spanish-speaking pregnant women. 12 16 Inherent limitations were found in these devices, such as the limited use for monitoring intensity of activity, impossibility of detect the upper body movements due to its placement, low compliance 17 and uncomfortable location for pregnant women. 12 Studies validating this devices and establishing specific cut points have not been developed for pregnant women. 15 In addition, these versions have been validated against pedometer, 11 13 uniaxial accelerometer, 9 10 15 and biaxial accelerometer. The PPAQ has been translated into different languages as Japanese, 10 Vietnamese, 11 French, 12 Turkish, 13 Portuguese 14 and Chinese. The Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) 9 is a tool specifically designed and successfully validated for the assessment of physical activity levels among pregnant women. 8 This may result in misclassification that limits the ability of questionnaires to estimate and differentiate physical activity levels among pregnant women. Most of them emphasize on moderate and vigorous intensity sports, and fail to include household or childcare activities, which comprise a substantial proportion of the time spend in physical activity during pregnancy. Several physical activity questionnaires have been developed and validated in adults. Questionnaires are the most commonly used method in epidemiologic and large population studies because their inherent characteristics as easy administration, non-invasive and relatively inexpensive method. Valid and reliable methods to measure the duration, frequency and intensity of physical activity during pregnancy are needed to provide information in order to establish health promotion strategies that prevent excessive weight gain and improve pregnant women's health. 4 - 6 Pregnant women with absence of medical or obstetrics complications, are advised to accumulate at least 30minutes of moderate intensity activity per day on most, if not all, days of the week. 1 - 3 Similarly, inactivity during pregnancy has been associated with adverse perinatal outcomes. Physical activity during pregnancy has potential health benefits in pregnant women, such as reduced risk of gestational diabetes mellitus and preeclampsia, and prevention of excessive weight gain and weight retention.