Barriers to Physical Activity among Full-Time Students: A Case Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

(1) Background: Physical inactivity is a major public health problem that affects a significant number of adolescents throughout the world. Attaining regular physical activity is a major challenge for adolescents who study full-time. This study aimed to examine the associations between barriers to physical activity, physical activity levels, and time exposed to sedentary behavior during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among adolescent full-time students at an institute of professional and technical education. (2) Methods: We employed mixed methods in this case study, which enrolled 119 adolescent students (52.9% of whom were female). More specifically, we applied the Barriers to Physical Activity Questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and conducted semi-structured interviews. Our statistical analysis was based on Poisson regression with robust variance, and our qualitative analysis was based on content analysis. (3) Results: The adolescents frequently presented with a “low” level of physical activity (44.4%, n = 52). The following barriers were associated with a low level of physical activity: lack of time (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.546; confidence interval (CI) 1.111–2.151), lack of motivation (PR 1.573; CI 1.102–2.245), preference for other activities (PR 1.521; CI 1.073–2.155), lack of facilities close to home (PR 1.576; CI 1.077–2.307), laziness (PR 1.463; CI 1.031–2.076), and no way of getting to a facility (PR 1.619; CI 1.005–2.606). (4) Conclusions: We observed that physical activity barriers in the psychological, cognitive, emotional, and environmental dimensions were associated with low levels of physical activity. The students reported that full-time study was a barrier to physical activity that contributed negatively to their physical activity levels and time exposed to sedentary behaviors.

Effects of Physical Exercise on Mobile Phone Addiction in College Students: The Chain Mediation Effect of Psychological Resilience and Perceived Stress

“…Combining the uses and gratifications theory, this study conjectures that although both physical exercise and smartphones are effective means to satisfy people’s needs for passing the time, relaxing, and entertainment, research shows that lack of time, remote locations of exercise venues, one’s own laziness, and other unfavorable factors constitute barriers to physical exercise among college students [ 108 ]. Smartphones, nonetheless, do not come with such limitations.…”

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in High School Students: A Quasi Experimental Study via Smartphone during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…At that time, the population of Brazil had already been living with the COVID-19 pandemic for 18 months. The Midwest region of Brazil had the highest COVID-19 mortality rate in the country (301 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), while the national rate was 249.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants [ 30 , 50 ]. Vaccine coverage at that time was just over 20% of the adult population [ 30 , 50 ].…”

“…The region was engaged in social isolation, with mandatory use of face protection masks. This state had the seventh lowest rate of social isolation in the country; however, the institution had been practicing emergency remote teaching for over a year [ 30 , 50 ].…”

“…The barriers can be categorized into four dimensions: environmental; psychological, cognitive, and emotional; sociodemographic; and sociocultural [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. In this sense, the coronavirus disease 2019, a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that spread into a worldwide pandemic [ 29 ], can be considered a barrier to the practice of physical activity, as it directly affected two important public health concerns: physical inactivity and sedentary behavior [ 30 ]. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted society in an unprecedented way, characterized by the greatest interruption of the teaching–learning process in the history of world education [ 31 , 32 ].…”

Effectiveness of Physical Activity Interventions in Sedentary People during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Table 1 shows the most important descriptive data of the studies included [17][18][19][20][21][22]. The 11 studies comprised 898 participants randomized for intervention vs. 872 controls, with a total of 1770 participants.…”