Barriers to physical activity and markers of adiposity in university students

In this study the objective was to establish the association between physical activity barriers and adiposity markers in university students. A cross sectional descriptive study was executed. Anthropometric assessment, sociodemographic data survey and physical activity barrier perception questionnaire were applied to 211 students. The most frequent barriers were lack of time, energy and free will. It was found greater value in indicators of adiposity in men and association between the barriers lack of time, skills and fear of injury, with a higher body mass index. It was found a relationship between barriers to physical activity and adiposity markers, relevant aspects in the strategies of promotion of physical activity and weight control.

Keywords:
Anthropometry; Motivation; Overweight; Physical activity

	Physioterapy	Occupational Theraphy	Total
*Age* $\bar{x}$ [SD]	21.80 [2.55]	22.73 [2.79]	22.23 [2.70]
*Sex*	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Male	15 (13.2%)	13 (13.4%)	28 (13.3%)
Female	99 (86.8%)	84 (86.6%)	183 (86.7%)
*Marital status*
Single	107 (93.9%)	88 (90.7%)	195 (92.4%)
Free Union	4 (3.5%)	7(7.2%)	11 (5.2%)
Married	3 (2.6%)	2 (2.1%)	5 (2.4%)
*Health scheme*
Contributed	33 (28.9%)	25 (25.8%)	58 (27.5%)
Subsidised	69 (60.5%)	62 (63.9%)	131 (62.1%)
Special	12 (10.5%)	10 (10.3%)	22 (10.4%)
*Stratum*
1	38 (33.3%)	33 (34.0%)	71 (33.6%)
2	41 (36.0%)	39 (40.2%)	80 (37.9%)
3 or more	35 (30.7%)	25 (25.8%)	60 (28.4%)
*Barriers*
Lack of time
No	42 (36.8%)	26 (26.8%)	68 (32.2%)
Yes	72 (63.2%)	71 (73.2%)	143 (67.8%)
Social influence
No	83 (72.8%)	63 (64.9%)	146 (69.2%)
Yes	31 (27.2%)	34 (35.1%)	65 (30.8%)
Lack of energy
No	46 (40.4%)	32 (33.0%)	78 (37.0%)
Yes	68 (59.6%)	65 (67.0%)	133 (63.0%)
Lack of free will
No	36 (31.6%)	29 (29.9%)	65 (30.8%)
Yes	78 (68.4%)	68 (70.1%)	146(69.2%)
Fear of getting hurt
No	109 (95.6%)	94 (96.9%)	203(96.2%)
Yes	5 (4.4%)	3 (3.1%)	8 (3.8%)
Lack of skills
No	99 (86.8%)	80 (82.5%)	179 (84.8%)
Yes	15 (13.2%)	17 (17.5%)	32 (15.2%)
Lack of resources
No	78 (68.4%)	58 (59.8%)	136 (64.5%)
Yes	36 (31.6%)	39 (40.2%)	75 (35.5%)

	Body mass index		Waist to height ratio^* * For the waist-height index it was expressed to three decimal places due to the characteristics of the indicator.		Waist circumference
	Female $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )	Male $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )	Female $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )	Male $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )	Female $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )	Male $\bar{x}$ $(S D$ )
TOTAL	24.5 (4.5)	25.9 (4.6)	0.506 (0.063)	0.516 (0.065)	80.2 (10.2)	88.6 (11.8)
*Marital status*
Single	24.2 (4.4)	25.7 (4.5)	0.502 (0.063)	0.511 (0.061)	79.5 (10.2)	88.0 (11.6)
Free union	25.3 (4.2)	32.7	0.540 (0.037)	0.648	85.8 (7.2)	105.0
Married	30.4 (4.6)	NA	0.586 (0.046)	NA	92.4 (9.2)	NA
Program
Physiotherapy	24.2 (4.7)	26.8 (4.3)	0.498 (0.069)	0.528 (0.056)	78.9 (10.7)	90.9 (10.1)
Occupational Therapy	24.7 (4.3)	24.9 (4.9)	0.517 (0.054)	0.502 (0.074)	81.8 (9.5)	86.0 (13.5)
Stratum
1	24.2 (4.2)	25.3 (4.1)	0.499 (0.064)	0.502 (0.066)	79.7 (10.4)	86.3 (13.5)
2	24.2 (5.1)	24.1 (3.5)	0.508 (0.066)	0.497(0.044)	79.5 (10.4)	84.8 (8.1)
3 or more	25.1 (4.0)	29.1(5.3)	0.514 (0.059)	0.558 (0.075)	81.8 (9.8)	96.4 (11.8)
Barriers Lack of time
No	23.4 (3.6)	24.5 (5.9)	0.496 (0.058)	0.501 (0.068)	78.1 (9.2)	86.7 (12.1)
Yes	24.9 (4.8)	26.7 (3.7)	0.511 (0.065)	0.525 (0.065)	81.2 (10.6)	89.6 (11.9)
Social influence
No	24.0 (4.3)	25.9 (4.7)	0.500 (0.063)	0.512 (0.065)	79.2 (9.5)	87.9 (12.3)
Yes	25.4 (4.7)	25.7 (4.9)	0.519 (0.062)	0.543 (0.070)	82.2 (11.4)	92.5 (8.8.)
Lack of energy
No	24.3 (4.2)	25.4(4.8)	0.506 (0.059)	0.506 (0.060)	80.0 (9.8)	87.2 (10.6)
Yes	24.5 (4.6)	26.5 (4.5)	0.507 (0.065)	0.528 (0.071)	80 (10.5)	90.2 (13.4)
Lack of free will
No	23.8 (4.0)	26.8 (4.8)	0.496 (0.066)	0.521 (0.064)	78.2 (10.1)	90.6 (11.7)
Yes	24.7 (4.7)	24.9 (4.3)	0.511 (0.062)	0.511 (0.069)	81.0 (10.2)	86.3 (12.1)
Fear of getting hurt
No	24.3 (4.3)	26.0 (4.8)	0.506 (0.063)	0.518 (0.067)	80.1(10.2)	89.2 (11.8)
Yes	28.0 (7.7)	24.3 (1.7)	0.522 (0.079)	0.491(0.025)	84.1 (12.1)	80.8 (12.4)
Lack of skills
No	24.1 (4.1)	26.0 (4.8)	0.503 (0.061)	0.518 (0.067)	79.8 (9.8)	89.2 (11.8)
Yes	26.3 (6.0)	24.3 (1.7)	0.525 (0.074)	0.491 (0.025)	82.4 (12.3)	80.8 (12.4)
Lack of resources
No	24.3 (4.5)	25.8 (5.4)	0.504 (0.067)	0.513 (0.075)	79.9 (10.7)	88.9 (13.8)
Yes	24.8 (4.6)	26.1 (3.3)	0.511 (0.056)	0.521 (0.049)	80.9 (9.3)	88.0 (8.5)

	Body mass index				Waist to height ratio^* * For the waist-height index it was expressed to three decimal places due to the characteristics of the indicator.				Waist circumference
	Bivariable		Multivariable		Bivariable		Multivariable		Bivariable		Multivariable
	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$	$B_{1} (E E)$	$p$
Age	0.49 (0.11)	0.00	0.49 (0.11)	0.00	0.00 (0.00)	0.00	0.00 (0.00)	0.00	1.08 (0.25)	0.00	1.06 (0.26)	0.00
Sex ^a a Female;
Male	1.45 (0.91)	0.11	1.26 (0.88)	0.15	0.00 (0.01)	0.45	0.00 (0.01)	0.57	8.37 (2.12)	0.00	7.84 (2.04)	0.00
Marital state ^b b Single;
Free Union	1.56 (1.37)	0.25	0.70 (1.36)	0.60	0.04 (0.01)	0.01	0.03 (0.01)	0.07	7.22 (3.16)	0.03	5.08 (3.15)	0.11
Married	5.9 (2.01)	0.00	4.31 (2.01)	0.03	0.08 (0.02)	0.00	0.06 (0.02)	0.11	12.9 (4.63)	0.01	9.30 (4.67)	0.05
Program ^c c Physiotherapy;
Occupational Therapy ^e e No barriers.	0.16 (0.62)	0.79	0.49 (0.11)	0.00	0.01 (0.00)	0.12	0.00 (0.00)	0.39	1.83 (1.44)	0.21	1.06 (0.26)	0.00
Stratum ^d d Stratum;
2	-0.95 (0.73)	0.89	-0.47 (0.70)	0.50	0.00 (0.01)	0.48	0.00 (0.00)	0.82	-0.36 (1.69)	0.83	-1.15 (1.64)	0.48
3	1.28 (0.79)	0.10	0.82 (0.76)	0.28	0.02 (0.01)	0.05	0.01 (0.01)	0.14	3.20 (1.82)	0.08	2.32 (1.77)	0.19
Barriers
Lack of time
Yes ^e	1.56 (0.66)	0.01	1.35 (0.63)	0.03	0.01 (0.00)	0.07	0.01 (0.00)	0.18	3.07 (1.53)	0.05	2.38 (1.49)	0.11
Social influence
Yes ^e	1.05 (0.67)	0.11	0.89 (0.65)	0.17	0.01 (0.00)	0.04	0.01 (0.00)	0.11	3.10 (1.56)	0.05	2.25 (1.52)	0.14
Lack of energy
Yes ^e	0.16 (0.64)	0.01	0.17 (0.62)	0.27	0.00 (0.00)	0.71	0.00 (0.00)	0.85	0.76 (1.50)	0.61	0.35 (1.45)	0.81
Lack of free will
Yes^e	0.16 (0.67)	0.81	0.16 (0.66)	0.79	0.00 (0.00)	0.32	0.00 (0.00)	0.38	1.61 (1.58)	0.31	1.12 (1.53)	0.46
Fear of getting hurt
Yes ^e	2.53 (1.62)	0.12	3.03 (1.56)	0.05	0.00 (0.02)	0.76	0.01 (0.02)	0.48	1.02 (3.78)	0.79	2.53 (3.66)	0.49
Lack of skills
Yes ^e	1.77 (0.86)	0.04	1.72 (0.83)	0.03	0.01 (0.01)	0.14	0.01 (0.01)	0.19	1.83 (2.01)	0.36	1.31 (1.95)	0.50
Lack of resources
Yes ^e	0.53 (0.65)	0.41	0.59 (0.62)	0.34	0.00 (0.00)	0.45	0.00 (0.00)	0.44	0.74 (1.50)	0.62	0.79 (1.45)	0.59

Colégio Brasileiro de Ciências do Esporte Universidade de Brasilia - Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Faculdade de Educação Física, Asa Norte - CEP 70910-970 - Brasilia, DF - Brasil, Telefone: +55 (61) 3107-2542 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: rbceonline@gmail.com

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[1] *Corresponding author: Sonia Carolina Mantilla Toloza E-mail: sonia.mantilla@unipamplona.edu.co