Predictors of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among pregnant women of Siyari Rural Municipality, Rupandehi, Nepal

Health-promoting lifestyle behaviors are self-initiated behaviors that focus on life promotion through lifestyle which consists of different aspects to enhance the level of well-being. The lifestyle adopted during pregnancy has a long-term effect on the health and life quality of both mother and child.

This study aimed to assess predictors of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors among pregnant women of Siyari Rural Municipality, Rupandehi.

A community-based cross-sectional analytical design was carried out in Siyari Rural Municipality, Rupandehi, Nepal. The research was conducted from March to August 2023 and the data was collected from 15th June to 15th July 2023, among 229 pregnant women. A probability proportionate sampling technique was implemented to select total participants and a pregnant was selected randomly. With ethical approval from Pokhara University, the IRC, and maintaining all ethics face-to-face interviews were conducted using a pretested structured questionnaire. Health-promoting behavior was measured using Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II) consisting of 6 elements health responsibility, physical activity, nutrition, spiritual growth, interpersonal relationships, and stress management. Data was entered into Epi-Data 3.1 and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.

The mean score of health-promoting behavior was 123.09 ± 13.34, and 72.9% of participants had a moderate level of health-promoting lifestyle behavior. Subscale scores showed low scores in physical activity 8.79 ± 1.66 and stress management 15.13 ± 2.09. Ethnicity (AOR: 0.09; 95% CI 0.03–0.29) and education level of the participant (AOR:0.09; 95% CI 0.01–0.66) were the greatest predictors of health-promoting lifestyle behavior among pregnant women.

Pregnant women had moderate levels of health-promoting behavior with low scores in physical activity and stress management so the government of Nepal should enhance a balanced approach that includes prenatal exercise counseling, stress management programs along with nutrition, health checkups, and social relationships that directly lead to better pregnancy outcomes. Ethnicity and education of the participant were the greatest predictors of health-promoting lifestyle behaviors so these predictors should be properly focused on individual and health system levels to improve health-promoting behaviors during pregnancy.