A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Enablers of Physical Activity among Female Emirati University Students
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Method
2.1. Participants and Procedure
2.2. Materials
2.3. Data Management and Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Benefits of Physical Activity Participation
3.2. Barriers to Physical Activity
“A lot of them would just sit and use their laptops instead of going outside and doing exercises”
“Families think differently to us and maybe sometimes when you are slim they ask why are you going to exercise—they don’t want you to be more slim so they prevent you from doing anything. Like my friend is not allowed to do exercise because she is slim—her family will not allow her”.
“Some people have a culture where the family don’t let them go to gyms and do exercise. Like in UAE, the family - we are more private in our life and they don’t like the girls to go out and do exercise. Parents don’t like it”.
“Doing exercise disagrees with the Emirati culture—the parents are not used to letting the girls go out at 6pm and 8pm to do walking. And there is no time in the day to do exercise”.
“Some parents think that you are a girl and you should learn the kitchen work and you don’t do exercise—this is from the culture”.
“Because most Emirati women are working mothers they don’t have time from their work and they have to take responsibility for their children so they don’t have time for exercise”.
“Not enough time, home responsibilities—taking care of the children, responsibility for other family like our mothers”.
“We have many college work and exams and projects, and we don’t have time for gym and exercise”.
“The schedule is really busy for us and it’s not convenient with the schedule of the sports complex. We can’t manage it with our studies”.
“And as we are women, we don’t have places to do exercises. Maybe two or three places we have—we don’t have enough clubs for ladies only, and even if there is, it is expensive. Before was cheaper but now double the price. We have ladies’ clubs but it’s expensive”.
“It is not only the gym that we want to go to—there are also parks and there are some for ladies but there are not enough of them and they are a long distance away. Maybe I live in Sharjah but the place is in Abu Dhabi and I have no way to get there”.
“Because it is too hot, we cannot go outside and do exercise especially because we are wearing abaya and shayla, it is very hot for all weather. It is a very big problem to us because sometimes when we go to a walk they tell us that you have to wear the sport dress and come and walk so we can’t walk in these areas as we have to wear our abaya and shayla”
3.3. Enablers of Physical Activity
“First of all, I think its support from friends—if we go to the sport together and encourage each other to exercise it will help for me especially”.
“Encouragement from parents is important when the parents give their children help to be more healthy and do activities and sometimes it’s about cost—the parents can give them money to join centres”.
“Social media maybe—for awareness and when you see some videos that advise you how to do the activities and what’s the benefits for it. Some applications like Instagram when you see the posts—there are some people who post about the health and the fitness. They put daily tips about the fitness and how you will be a fit person”.
“Before last year there was one subject where the girls go to the gym but now they have cancelled. If this came back it would be good for the girls to take this subject and go to the gym because some girls do not have enough time but if it is in the schedule then it is easier”.
“Now they say in each urban area there must be a club close. Now in our area they do it for each area for ladies only. From government, they approve it and each area must have a closed club to go and do exercise and also have activities”.
3.4. Recommendations to Improve Physical Activity Participation
“Ask the females what they prefer to do and ask their opinions on what they like”
“The program should be fun—not only this is activity and do it”
“I think the people (the instructors) have to show that they care about us—they are friendly and funny and confident and motivate us. And tell us the benefit that we can get from each exercise”.
“Not just take the ball and go play basketball—it needs more structure—not just trying to show that we are doing sport”.
“On the campus—not outside—like they can allocate some classrooms (for activities) on the campus and we can start. If it is closer to the campus then we can come in the break in our schedule”.
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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1. Do you think that there are benefits of participating in physical activity? What are these? 2. What makes it difficult to do physical activity? (Probed for: intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, contextual factors e.g., “How might other people make physical activity difficult”) 3. What helps/would help you to participate in physical activity? (Probed for: intrapersonal, interpersonal, social, contextual factors e.g., “What is it about where physical activity is done that could make it easier to do?”) 4. If we wanted to have a physical activity program for female university students here, what would you suggest? 5. Are there any other points you would like to go back on or talk about? |
Characteristics | n | % |
---|---|---|
Total | 25 | 100 |
Age group (years) | ||
18–20 | 15 | 60 |
21–24 | 9 | 36 |
25+ | 1 | 4 |
Body mass index (kg/m2) | ||
Healthy weight (<25) | 15 | 60 |
Overweight (25–30) | 2 | 8 |
Obese (>30) | 8 | 32 |
General health | ||
Excellent or very good | 15 | 60 |
Good | 7 | 28 |
Fair or poor | 3 | 12 |
Ability to manage on available income | ||
It is easy or not too bad | 14 | 56 |
Difficult some of the time | 11 | 44 |
Life satisfaction | ||
High | 19 | 76 |
Moderate | 5 | 20 |
Low | 1 | 4 |
Major Themes | Minor Themes |
---|---|
Intrapersonal | |
Intentions “A lot of them would just sit and use their laptops instead of going outside and doing exercises” | Emotions Positive/negative affect “If you have good mood you will do anything. If you are sad you will not do sports” “Some ladies get bored quickly. If they get bored at the activity today they will not go tomorrow” “Some ladies don’t like to go to the gym—they only think for shopping and going out” Beliefs about Capabilities Self-efficacy “People don’t have enough courage to go and do exercise—they are not confident” Reinforcement Punishment- “If they make any exercise they will get tired and their body will hurt” Knowledge “People don’t know about the benefits of physical activities |
Interpersonal | |
Social Influences Low social support (family)—“Maybe they don’t have the support from their parents” “Parents don’t like the girls to go out and do exercise” Social norms “Home responsibilities—taking care of the children, and for other family like our mothers” | Social Influences Social pressure (friends) “Sometimes my friends will stop me from doing activities” |
Contextual: Academic | |
Environmental Context and Resources Environmental stressors “The schedule is really busy for us and it’s not convenient” “We have more exams and a lot of projects in the course—all the time we are busy” | |
Contextual: Cultural/Environmental | |
Environmental Context and Resources | Social Influences |
Material resources “There is no gyms here near us to exercise” | Group norms “In other cultures, they accept this muscle for women. In Emirati female, it is not so acceptable” |
“Most of the places are mixed for ladies and men so we can’t go there” | Environmental Context and Resources |
Environmental stressors “In the summer we cannot do exercise as it is very hot” | Resources “We are only students—for the majority the cost is the problem” |
Major Themes | Minor Themes |
---|---|
Intrapersonal | |
Behavioural regulation “The solution is to organise our schedule—it’s just one hour for we will do the activities so we can manage it” Knowledge “The knowledge of the importance of sports” | |
Interpersonal | |
Social Influences Social support (friends) “They need motivation and to go with groups of friends. They will encourage” Social support (family) “The parents can give them money to join centers” Social modelling “I watch videos on health care and that will motivate me” | Social Influences Social support “More coaches or trainers coming to our homes because many parents don’t allow us to go to the gym” |
Contextual: Academic | |
Environmental Context and Resources Resources “They should make time in our schedule to allow us to do exercise” | Social Influences “Maybe they can do workshops in the school and invite the parents to help the children to do exercise” Reinforcement “The college to give course credit to people who participate in the gym programs” |
Contextual: Cultural/Environmental | |
Environmental Context and Resources Resources—“I think make the clubs near to the home so that people can walk to them and then transport won’t be a problem” “More private places for girls will help but not just gym—like parks for girls” “Make the sports complex nearer to the college to make the student go” Reinforcement “Making offers will help—if they do many exercise then they have to pay less to use the gym” | Environmental Context and Resources Resources “Having the equipment will help. I have a small gym in my house and that makes me excited to do some exercise” “The gym should provide kindergarten so the lady will feel comfortable” |
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Burton, N.W.; Barber, B.L.; Khan, A. A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Enablers of Physical Activity among Female Emirati University Students. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 3380. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073380
Burton NW, Barber BL, Khan A. A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Enablers of Physical Activity among Female Emirati University Students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(7):3380. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073380
Chicago/Turabian StyleBurton, Nicola W., Bonnie L. Barber, and Asaduzzaman Khan. 2021. "A Qualitative Study of Barriers and Enablers of Physical Activity among Female Emirati University Students" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 7: 3380. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073380