Unveiling Barriers and Facilitators to Physical Activity: Participation among Young Female Adults

Background: According to WHO "physical activity is any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure" and the health benefits of it are numerous. However, only a small percentage of adults, particularly females, are observed to engage less in regular physical activity. Objective: To unveil the barriers and the facilitators of physical activity in young female adults as it is very important to know the factors that affect and deteriorate their physical activity. Research Methodology: In this qualitative study the data was collected by conducting interviews of young female adults of age ranged 19 to 35 years. The demographic data and open - ended questions were analysed using schematic and qualitative analysis in NVivo software. Results: In this study twenty - five (n=25) female participants were interviewed; who volunteered gave their consent for their participation in this study. The overall sample ranged in age from 19 years to 35 years with a mean age of 22.76 (M= 22.76) and a Standard Deviation of 3.1391 (SD=3.1391). Out of 25 participants 12 considered Lack of time, Dependency of technology, Lack of self - motivation and paucity of recourse and built environment as the barrier remaining others had mix views regarding barriers in physical activity. However, facilitators were described very vaguely by the participants. Conclusion: The barriers and the facilitators to physical activity are well explored in this study and it is very much evident that female face lots of barriers than males and they are less physically active also. So, taking this barriers and facilitators into consideration health care providers and physical therapist should boost the self - efficacy in this group and can also prepare a well - structured rehabilitation program in order to improve the physical activity in young female adults.