311013
Barriers to Physical Activity Among Colombian College Students: A Cross-Sectional Study
METHODS: 4.803 college students with a median age of 20±2.6 (range 17-30) years (61.3% female) were evaluated. Participants who stated that they did not get enough PA were surveyed with respect to barriers to PA. The Barriers to Being Active Quiz is a 21-item scale that provides a measure of 7 self-reported barriers to being physically active. In this instrument, the 7 perceived barrier categories are lack of time, social influences, lack of energy, lack of willpower, fear of injury, lack of skill, and lack of resources. Barriers were analysed for all respondents, as well as by sex and age group for cases with complete data. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate differences between sexes group. The level of significance (p<0.05) was adjusted for multiple testing according to Bonferroni (p<0.01).
RESULTS: The three most frequently cited barriers were fear of injury (89.5%), lack of skills (82.1%), and lack of resources (66.1%). Lack of energy (35.4% vs. 47.7%), and lack of willpower (45.5% vs. 58.3%) were more frequently stated by female respondents than male respondents. These differences between men and women were significant (p=0.003; p<0.001) after adjustment for respondents’ sex.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides relevant data on barriers to PA in college students. By revealing appreciable differences between men and women, this study has implications for efforts to increase college student’s PA.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and preventionPlanning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Analyze barriers to physical activity (PA) in college students, allowing comparisons between men and women.
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I and my research team have worked have been worked in physical activity from a considerable time studying some fields (cardiovascular risk factors, cancer, health-promotion, etc). We have participated in the design of the National Health-Survey in Colombia. Further, this project has been developed through a close alliance among several Colombian institutions and the support of the Colombian ministry of health.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.