Somali women's view of physical activity—a focus group study

Abstract

Background: Physical inactivity presents a major public health challenge and is estimated to cause six to ten percent of the major non-communicable diseases. Studies show that immigrants, especially women, have an increased risk of non-communicable diseases compared to ethnic Swedes. Somali immigrant women have increased rates of overweight and obesity, low fitness levels and low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness compared to non-immigrant women. These findings suggest that Somali women are at increased risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases. Few studies explore determinants of physical activity among Somali women. The aim of this study was to explore Somali women's views and experiences of physical activity after migration to Sweden. Methods: A qualitative focused ethnographic approach was used in this study. Four focus groups were conducted with twenty-six Somali women ranging from 17 to 67 years of age. Focus group discussions were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in four main themes and ten categories: Life in Somalia and Life in Sweden, Understanding and enhancing health and Facilitators and barriers to physical activity. Great differences were seen between living in Somalia and in Sweden but also similarities such as finding time to manage housework, the family and the health of the woman. The extended family is non-existent in Sweden, making life more difficult. Health was considered a gift from God but living a healthy life was perceived as the responsibility of the individual. Misconceptions about enhancing health occurred depending on the woman's previous life experience and traditions. There was an awareness of the importance of physical activity among the participants but lack of knowledge of how to enhance activity on an individual basis. Enhancing factors to an active lifestyle were identified as being a safe and comfortable environment.

Resettled Syrian refugees in Jordan: Survival or health promotion

“…They did not give priority for physical activity as they were concerned about finding jobs to afford living expenses. Similar results were found in Mohamed, Hassan, Weis, Sia, and Wieland (2014) and Persson, Mahmud, Hansson, and Strandberg (2014). Practicing exercise is a social value that may not persist in some refugee's lives before moving to Jordan.…”

Examining the Effectiveness of Physical Activity on Mental Health among Bosnian Refugees: A Pilot Study

“…Over the past five years, research has been focusing more on exploring refugees/immigrants' perspectives of and barriers to physical activity [29][30][31][32][33][34]. Several studies conducted among Somali and other refugee and immigrant communities with either youth or adults living in the U.S. or overseas indicated that the barriers to their being physically active included lack of motivation to/interest in physical activity, financial constraint, lack of social support for physical activity, lack of culturally appropriate physical activity resources, less opportunities to walk in a western country, unsafe outdoor physical activity, unsupportive social norms for physical activity, unsupportive moral norms for physical activity for females, and poor weather among other reasons provided [29][30][31][32][33][34]. For instance, Wieland and his colleagues [34] conducted a qualitative study during July and December 2011.…”

“…They enjoy doing activities together, and they respect their community/religious leaders and role models. The effectiveness of social support and a role model on physical activity among refugee and immigrant populations have also been suggested by the most recent literature [29][30][31][32][33][34]. And (3) Using objective measures to identify the participants' behavioral patterns for physical activity in order to pinpoint and fill any potential gaps relevant to participants' behavioral consistency.…”

Sick of sitting

“…Stereotypes about obesity can perpetuate low NEAT, promote bullying in children, and permit discrimination [35-38]. Religion, too, can factor into promoting sedentariness [39]. …”