PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CANADIAN ADULT MALES AND FEMALES.

The purpose of the present study was to examine adult psychological lack of time, and physical barriers to physical activity (PA) and exercise in a group of Canadian adults. We employed a mixed methodology approach, conducted in two phases. In Phase I, we facilitated group discussions with 234 adults, from 13 diverse focus groups, regarding their perception of PA and exercise as well as the PA barriers prevalent in their daily lives. Using the transcriptions from phase I, we designed a survey and administered it to participants of the same community groups in Phase II of the study in order to quantify feedback. Two hundred seventy-seven adults provided survey responses. The number one barrier, overall, with both the men and women was the psychological barrier: "There are so many other things for me to do, it's easy to make excuses." The most significant lack of time barrier was, "Other things are more important and require my time and energy." Winter weather (physical barrier) was significant, particularly among females. We advocate that identifying the most common PA barriers will help tailor interventions to increase PA in adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]