Perceived barriers to physical activity practice in high school students

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the problem of declining physical activity (PA) among adolescents, there has been an increasing interest in identifying perceived barriers (PB) that can reduce the involvement of adolescents in PA. The aim of this study was to identify PB to PA practice among public high school students. The samples was composed of 348 students aged 14-19 years, 46.8% females and 53.2% males. To investigate BP, an instrument consisting of 12 statements and validated for the study population was used. The analysis of results was carried out by descriptive statistics, Kruskal Wallis test to check the possible differences in PB throughout high school years and chi-square for the difference in proportions of barriers. Having many tasks to do, lack of time and adverse weather conditions were the most cited PB. There was no difference in the perception of barriers among high school years (males: p = 0.44; females: p = 0.23). PB “not having how to go or return” (p = 0.04), “adverse weather conditions” and “laziness” (p = 0.02), “lack of time” (p = 0.01) and “at home nobody performs PA” (p = 0.04) showed statistically significant differences between sexes. Both sexes reported similar barriers; however, girls reported higher number of PB and with greater frequency. Identifying which PB prevent the adoption of a physically active lifestyle may be the beginning of solutions to minimize the negative effects.