Environmental barriers as a determining factor of physical activity

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be an important variable in achieving a good quality of life. The objective of this study was to determine adolescents’ perceptions of environmental barriers to PA based on age, gender, geographic location, body mass index (BMI), PA index, and whether they engage in sports or not. The sample was made up of 849 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old. The PA Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) and three questions on environmental barriers were used. Among the results, we should point out that adolescents hardly perceive any environmental barriers. There are no differences in the perception of barriers neither in terms of gender nor BMI. As adolescents get older, they consider that there are few recreational spaces, that the distance is not adequate, and that there is no accessibility to them or they do not encourage walking. The adolescents who perceive the greatest barriers are those who live in settlements of 10,000–50,000 inhabitants, especially those more linked to the neighborhood and to the accessibility and availability of spaces. It seems especially important to establish health policies in order to neutralize the barriers related to the accessibility and availability of spaces and the neighborhood-related barriers.