Barriers to Physical Activity

1
Barriers to Physical Activity
2
Barriers Skill, 2004

• Overall, 21 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that they are not good at doing sports or
  physical activities.
• Women are more likely to strongly agree that they
  are not good at doing sports and physical
  activities.
• There are no differences in the proportion of
  Ontarians who strongly agree that they are not
  good at doing physical activity with education
  level.

3
Barriers Skill by Age, 2004

• There is an age-related increase in the
  proportion of Ontarians who strongly agree that
  they are not good at doing sports and physical
  activities.

4
Barriers Skill by Activity Level, 2004

• Ontarians with low levels of activity are more
  likely to strongly agree that they are not good
  at doing physical activities than those who are
  active.

5
Barriers Cost, 2004

• Overall, 31 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that the dollar costs of doing physical activity
  is too high.
• Women are more likely to strongly agree that the
  dollar costs of doing physical activity is too
  high.
• There are no significant differences by age, or
  physical activity level.

6
Barriers Cost by Education Level, 2004

• University educated adults are the least likely
  to strongly agree that the dollar cost of doing
  physical activity is too high.

7
Barriers Lack of Information, 2004

• Overall, 25 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that there is not enough information provided
  about what opportunities for physical activity
  and sport are available locally.
• There are no significant differences by gender,
  age, education, or physical activity level.

8
Barriers Lack of Knowledge, 2004

• Overall, 15 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that they do not know how to go about building
  more physical activity into their lifestyle.
• There are no significant differences between men
  and women in the proportion strongly agreeing
  with the statement.

9
Barriers Lack of Knowledge by Age, 2004

• The proportion of Ontarians who strongly agree
  that they do not have the knowledge of how to
  build physical activity into their lifestyle
  increases dramatically with increasing age.

10
Barriers Lack of Knowledge by Education Level,
2004

• Adults with secondary school education are more
  likely to strongly agree that they do not know
  how to build physical activity into their
  lifestyle compared to university educated adults.

11
Barriers Lack of Knowledge by Activity Level,
2004

• Those least active are more likely to strongly
  agree that they lack knowledge of how to
  incorporate physical activity into their
  lifestyle compared to highly active Ontarians.

12
Barriers Transportation Issues, 2004

• Overall, 19 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that it it too hard to get to places where they
  can be active.
• There are no significant gender differences in
  the proportion of Ontarians who strongly agree
  that it is too difficult to get to places to be
  active.
• There are no significant differences in this
  barrier with respect to activity level.

13
Barriers Transportation Issues by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely than
  their younger counterparts to strongly agree that
  it is too difficult to get to places to be active.

14
Barriers Transportation Issues by Education
Level, 2004

• Adults with less than secondary school education
  are more likely to strongly agree that it is
  difficult to get to places to be active compared
  to university educated adults.

15
Barriers Suitability of Hours and Class Times,
2004

• Overall, 27 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that hours and class times offered by their local
  centres dont suit them.
• Women are more likely than men to strongly agree
  that the hours and class times offered by local
  physical activity centers are not suitable.
• There are no significant differences by age,
  education or activity level.

16
Barriers Suitability of Programs and
Facilities, 2004

• Overall, 22 of adults in Ontario strongly agreed
  that the programs and facilities available were
  not the right type for them.
• There were no significant differences between men
  and women regarding the proportion who strongly
  agreed that the programs and facilities available
  were not the right type for them.
• There were no significant differences by
  education or activity level.

17
Barriers Suitability of Programs and Facilities
by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) were more likely to
  strongly agree that the programs and facilities
  available were not the right type for them.

18
Barriers Availability of Partners, 2004

• Overall, 27 of adults in Ontario strongly agreed
  that it was difficult to find other people to be
  active with.
• Women were more likely than men to strongly agree
  that it was difficult to find others to be active
  with.
• There were no significant differences by age.

19
Barriers Availability of Partners by Education,
2004

• Adults with a secondary school education are more
  likely to strongly agree that it is difficult to
  find others to be active with compared to
  university educated adults.

20
Barriers Availability of Partners by Activity
Level, 2004

• The least active adults are more likely than
  those who are highly active to strongly agree
  that it is difficult to find others to be active
  with.

21
Barriers Family Oriented Programs, 2004

• Overall, 21 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that it is hard to find more family oriented
  activity programs and classes.
• There are no significant differences between men
  and women, by education or activity levels.

22
Barriers Family Oriented Programs by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely to
  strongly agree that it is difficult to find
  appropriate coaching or instruction compared to
  their younger counterparts.

23
Barriers Coaching or Instruction, 2004

• There are no significant differences between men
  and women in the proportion who strongly agree
  that it is difficult to find appropriate coaching
  or instruction.

24
Barriers Coaching or Instruction by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely to
  strongly agree that it is difficult to find
  appropriate coaching or instruction compared to
  their younger counterparts.

25
Barriers Coaching or Instruction by Education
Level, 2004

• Adults with less than secondary school education
  are more likely to strongly agree that it is
  difficult to find the right type of coaching or
  instruction compared to university educated
  adults.

26
Barriers Safety, 2004

• Overall, 15 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that concerns about their safety keep them from
  walking or biking.
• Women are more likely than men to strongly agree
  that safety concerns keep them from walking or
  bicycling.
• There are no significant differences by activity
  level.

27
Barriers Safety by Age, 2004

• There is a general increase in the proportion of
  adults who strongly agree that safety concerns
  prevent them from walking and bicycling with
  increasing age.

28
Barriers Safety by Education, 2004

• Adults with secondary school education are more
  likely to strongly agree that safety concerns
  prevent them from walking or bicycling compared
  to those with post-secondary education.

29
Barriers Traffic, 2004

• Overall, 13 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that there is too much traffic in their area for
  walking and biking.
• There are no significant differences for gender,
  age, education or physical activity level
  regarding ratings of traffic concerns.

30
Barriers Maintenance of Sidewalks and Bike
Lanes, 2004

• Overall, 12 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that badly maintained sidewalks and bike lanes in
  their area prevent them from biking.
• There are no significant differences for gender,
  education, and activity level regarding ratings
  of maintenance concerns.

31
Barriers Maintenance of Sidewalks and Bike
Lanes by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely than
  those aged 25 to 64 to strongly agree that badly
  maintained sidewalks and bicycle lanes prevent
  them from bicycling.

32
Barriers Lighting, 2004

• Overall, 11 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that poorly lit sidewalks and streets in their
  area prevent them from walking and biking.
• Women are more likely than men to strongly agree
  that poorly lit sidewalks and streets prevent
  them from walking or bicycling.
• There are no significant differences by activity
  level.

33
Barriers Lighting by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely than
  those aged 25 to 44 to strongly agree that poorly
  lit sidewalks and streets prevent them from
  walking and bicycling.

34
Barriers Lighting by Education, 2004

• Adults with a secondary school education or less
  are more likely to strongly agree that poorly lit
  sidewalks and streets prevent them from walking
  and bicycling compared to adults with a
  university education.

35
Barriers Maintenance of facilities, 2004

• Overall 16 of adults in Ontario strongly agree
  that the sport and recreation facilities are not
  well maintained in their community.
• There are no gender or activity level related
  differences in the proportion strongly agreeing
  that the local sport and recreation facilities
  are not well maintained.

36
Barriers Maintenance of facilities by Age, 2004

• Older adults (65 years) are more likely to
  strongly agree that the local sport and
  recreation facilities were not well-maintained
  compared to their younger counterparts.

37
Barriers Maintenance of facilities by
Education, 2004

• Adults with less than secondary school education
  are more likely to strongly agree that the local
  sport and recreation facilities were not
  well-maintained compared to university educated
  adults.

38
Reducing Barriers to Physical Activity, 2004

• Barriers are perceived hindrances or impediments
  that prevent a given behaviour, in this case,
  being active. It is important to understand what
  population groups are more likely to report
  specific barriers.
• Use evaluation techniques and focus testing among
  the targeted populations can help to ensure that
  specialized programming (i.e. programming for
  women, low-income groups, etc) is having an
  effect.
• Improving the maintenance and safety of existing
  physical activity and sport opportunities may
  help to increase perception of the suitability of
  opportunities. This is particularly important for
  disadvantaged groups.

39
Reducing Barriers to Physical Activity, 2004
(contd)

• Increasing access to low-cost facilities and
  availability of open spaces and a more walkable
  environment may help to increase the visibility
  of physical activity in low socioeconomic areas.
  A walkable environment includes a high level of
  aesthetics and few perceived barriers.
• Reducing the actual or perceived costs associated
  with physical activity. Consider alternatives
  such as reducing fees, providing financial
  assistance programs (i.e., Jumpstart) or
  providing options in lieu of fees.
• Promoting the role of parents for increasing
  childrens participation through encouragement,
  tangible supports, provision of equipment,
  modeling positive active behaviours, providing
  reinforcement or incentives for participating may
  help increase childrens participation rates.