Barriers for physical activity in overweight adults

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the barriers to physical activity in overweight adults. We used the technique of focus groups in adults between 20 and 55 years old (n=36; 52.7% women) in four homogeneous groups according to gender and stage of change behavior for physical activity. The most common barriers among adults with overweight were those that constituted the intrapersonal category (51.3%), such as feelings of negative body image, lack of confidence in performing physical activity, lack of time, lack of financial resources, and having a disease. The environment category represented 32.1% of the reported barriers (bad weather, lack of security and lack of places and lack of structures for physical activity) whereas interpersonal category showed 16.6% of the barriers (lack of support from friends, family and professionals). In conclusion, the intrapersonal barriers were the most frequently reported and there were no differences of barriers in relation to the stage of behavior change.