Motivations, barriers and exercise preferences among female undergraduates: A need assessment analysis

Abstract

Introduction The decreasing level of physical activity among female undergraduates is worrying as it is associated with the increased risk of non-communicable diseases. Thus, this study aimed to identify the motivations, barriers and preferences towards exercise among female undergraduates in Malaysia. Methods A non-probability purposive sampling was used for the recruitment process. The inclusion criteria of the participants were registered female undergraduates and aged between 18–30 years old. A semi-structured in-depth interview was used to collect topic-related information from the participants and signed consents were obtained prior to the interview. The interview questions were on respondents’ understanding of exercise, motivation and barriers to exercise, and exercise preferences. The recruitment process was conducted until the data was saturated. All interviews were audio recorded and manually transcribed verbatim. NVivo 11 was used to conduct the inductive analysis of the data to develop themes for motivation and barriers to exercise. For exercise preferences, four predetermined themes were used. Findings A total of 26 respondents participated in this study. Eight themes were found for motivation to exercise, with the most common themes being maintaining or improving appearance, health benefits and togetherness. For barriers of exercising, five themes were found, and the most common ones were disliking exercise and no motivation. For exercise preferences, most respondents preferred a structured exercise program with flexibility in terms of when and where the exercise could be conducted. Light or moderate intensity exercise for 10–30 minutes with a frequency of 1–2 times a week was desired the most among the respondents. Conclusion In conclusion, personal and environmental factors play important roles in motivating or hampering female undergraduates to exercise, and a structured program was the preferred mode of exercise of these respondents. A new exercise module was designed based on this needs assessment with a 70% acceptance rate among the participants. These findings can help the future development of more exercise modules tailored to female university students.

Barriers and Motivators to Weight Loss in People With Obesity

“…Moreover, this study showed that lack of time, convenience, and knowledge on how to make healthy food choices were barriers to eating healthier, limiting weight loss success [ 49 ]. Previous studies also showed that busy schedules, lack of time for meal preparation and exercise, emotional eating, stress, depression, low self-esteem, family responsibilities, cultural norms, and lack of social support were identified as significant barriers [ 6 , 50 , 51 ], consistent with our findings. Another previous study showed that, for children with obesity, an unemployed father (OR=11.90; 95% CI: 7.47-18.93), a father with overweight or obesity (OR=2.04; 95% CI: 1.40-2.96), an incorrect parental perception of the child’s weight status (OR=2.54; 95% CI: 1.75-3.68), physical activity for less than 30 min (OR=2.18; 95% CI: 1.44-3.28), frequent snacking (OR=1.74; 95% CI: 1.05-2.93), and screen time use for more than 2 hours per day outside of school (OR=1.62; 95% CI: 1.12-2.34) were associated with weight gain and unsuccessful weight loss efforts [ 52 ].…”

Effects of a 12-week walking intervention on circulating lipid profiles and adipokines in normal weight and abdominal obese female college students

“… 52 , 53 Lipid parameters (TG/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and CHOL/HDL-C ratios) have been linked to the risk of CVD. 35 , 36 Urbina et al. (2013) found that a higher TG/HDL-C value was correlated with an increase in weight, heart rate, and risk of diabetic complications in adolescents and young adults, especially in obese youth.…”

“…A lack of motivation was reported by participants as one of the barriers to engaging in high-intensity exercises among female undergraduates. 35 The causes of physical inactivity are multifactorial, including a lack of access to the necessary facilities, time, exercise partner, and confidence. 36 Thus, the present study sought to investigate how a 12-week, 10,000 steps per day, walking exercise influenced the body composition, serum lipids, adipose tissue function, and obesity-associated cardiometabolic risk in young adult women from two weight groups, overweight and normal.…”

Cognitive Benefits of Physical Exercise, Physical–Cognitive Training, and Technology-Based Intervention in Obese Individuals with and without Postmenopausal Condition: A Narrative Review

“…Although it is well established that exercise promotes health benefits, the uptake and adherence of the exercise programs in all populations including obese individuals are generally low due to a number of reasons including lack of time and motivation [ 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Recently, technology-based interventions have become a part of healthcare and medical intervention, providing accessible and motivational benefits for health promotion [ 32 , 79 ].…”