Rural Adolescents’ Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity

Abstract

The prevalence of adolescents’ obesity is higher in rural than urban areas. Physical activity (PA) is important in obesity prevention. The Bioecological Theory of Development posits that an individual's behavior is influenced by one’s interactions with their environment. Interventions promoting PA in context of the environment for rural adolescents are needed. The objective of this study is to identify barriers and facilitators to PA among 6th-8th grade adolescents. Four focus groups of 6th-8th grade youth (6-10/group) were conducted in a low-income, rural community. Focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using NVivo software (QSR International Pty Ltd. Version 10, 2012) to identify themes influencing PA and categorized into bioecological system of influence (microsystem = face-to-face interactions, mesosystem = connection between environments, exosystem = larger social systems, and macrosystem = policy/values of society). Adolescent identified barriers in the microsystem (lack of motivation and confidence, and competition from non-physical activities i.e. video games) and exosystem (distance to the activities and lack of options that they like), but None in mesosystem. Facilitators were in the microsystem (acceptance by peers and make the activity fun), mesosystem (more education for the activity by school or others and prohibit bullying), exosystem (better facilities), and macrosystem (more gender equal opportunities). Rural adolescents desire greater skills and self-confidence to complete the PA, acceptance by peers, and a greater variety of both competition and non-competition activities. When developing programs to increase PA, it is important to include the adolescent perspective and direct programming at the appropriate environmental system of influence.