22 annotated bibliographies AMA style

African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance (AJPHERD)

September 2011 (Supplement 1), pp. 56-69.

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation

of first year university students

V .T NOLAN, M. SANDADA AND J. SURUJLAL Faculty of Management Sciences, Vaal University of Technology, Private Bag X021,

Vanderbijlpark 1900, Republic of South Africa E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Regular participation in exercise is associated with disease prevention and provides many

benefits. Physical exercise plays a key role in the promotion of good health. However, very few

young people participate in physical exercise. The purpose of this study was to identify the

perceived benefits and barriers to participation in physical exercise among first year students in a

South African university. A quantitative approach was used. Academics at three different

campuses at Vaal University of Technology (South Africa) administered an adapted version of

the Exercise Benefits Barriers Scale (EBBS) to first year entering university students.

Descriptive, one-way repeated measure ANOVA and independent t-tests were applied to

determine the perceived benefits and barriers associated with participation in physical exercise.

The study identified lack of facilities and tiredness as the constraining factors. Improved health,

physical performance, psychological outlook and life enhancement were perceived as the

strongest benefits. First year students perceive participating in exercising to have more benefits

than adverse effects. As a result, students will be more motivated to overcome the barriers they

face and hinder them in their participation in physical exercise in order to make physical

exercise part of their daily lives.

Key words: Benefits, barriers, physical exercise, university students, health, participation

How to cite this article:

Nolan, V.T., Sandada, M. & Surujlal, J. (2011). Perceived benefits and barriers to physical

exercise participation of first year university students. African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance, September (Supplement 1), 56-69.

Introduction

Regular participation in exercise activities is associated with disease prevention

and has many physical, psychological and physiological benefits (Lopez,

Gallegos & Extremera, 2010). However, despite the extensive body of literature

that documents the health benefits of physical activity participation among

young people, evidence shows that very few young people participate in physical

exercises (Daskapan, Tuzun & Eker, 2006). Schutzer and Graves (2004) have

noted that although there are perceived benefits of exercises, there are several

barriers that hinder exercise participation. Given the high prevalence of obesity

and obesity-related health problems (Lovell, Ansari & Parker, 2010) increased

research efforts are needed to explore the perceived benefits and barriers of

exercise participation by university students. Information gleaned from such

research could contribute to designing relevant intervention policies and

programmes to promote the health consciousness of the young population.

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 57

Schutzer and Graves (2004) define physical activity as any movement of the

body that is produced by skeletal muscles and requires the use of energy.

Physical activity sub-categories include exercise, leisure-time physical activity,

and lifestyle activity (Henderson & Ainsworth, 2003). Exercise is viewed as

planned, purposeful and structured training to gain physical fitness, whereas

leisure-time physical activity comprises any physical activity carried out during

one‟s spare time, and lifestyle activity comprises activities such as gardening,

yard work, house work and climbing stairs (Henderson & Ainsworth, 2003).

This study adopts a definition of physical exercise suggested by Slattery,

Edwards, Khe-ni, Friedman and Potter (1997), where both moderate and

vigorous activities are considered as categories of physical activities. Moderate

activities consist of brisk walking, raking, gardening, cleaning windows,

mopping floors, swimming, canoeing, volleyball, jogging, walking uphill

leisurely, mowing the lawn and weeding. Some of the vigorous physical

activities include strenuous physical activities such as weightlifting, jogging or

running fast, aerobic dance, fast swimming, shovelling, chopping wood,

gardening with heavy tools, tennis, basketball, soccer, and cross country at

increased speed (Slattery et al., 1997).

There are varied benefits that are associated with participation in physical

activities. Using evidence of a cross-sectional study in Finland, Hassmen,

Koivula and Uutela (2000) showed that active participation in physical exercise

results in lower depression, anger, cynical distrust, and stress. The study further

indicated that regular exercisers enjoy healthier lives and general well being as

well as higher levels of physical fitness and a stronger feeling of social

integration and higher levels of coherence than those who do not exercise. The

importance of physical exercise was also reinforced by Salmon‟s (2001) study

that reported that exercise training has antidepressant effects because exercisers

develop enduring resilience to stress and consequently reduce premature

mortality. Furthermore, Dubbert (2002) identified several benefits associated

with physical exercise participation which include: reducing obesity, maintaining

healthy joints, controlling pain, building stronger bone mass as well as

improving endurance, strength and balance. Arora, Stoner and Arora (2006)

enumerated the gains of exercise such as reducing risk of heart disease, reducing

cholesterol levels, regulating sugar levels thereby reducing risk of developing

diabetes, maintaining body weight or reducing body fat and hence obesity,

building and maintaining healthy muscles, bones and joints, and for preventing

cancer. Cokerill (1995) posits that physical exercise promotes self-esteem and

self-efficacy. This is resonated by Henderson and Ainswoth (2003) who claim

that physical exercise is associated with feeling good, being with others,

maintaining a healthy life, and experiencing spiritual and psychological gains.

Six major perceived benefits to physical exercise are reported in the study by

O‟Dea (2003). First are the social benefits that include fun or enjoyment,

58 Nolan, Sandaba and Surujlal

socialising with friends and team mates, and developing life skills. Second are

the psychological enhancement gains such as sense of achievement, pride and

self-esteem, mood invigoration, discipline development, and enjoyment of goals

and challenge realisation. The third group of benefits are the physical sensation

gains that enable exercisers to feel good physically in aspects such as feeling of

refreshment, energy boosting, fatigue reduction, increased fitness and strength as

well as enhanced sleep. An enhanced performance in sports is the fourth benefit

and it covers skill development and an improvement in fitness, strength,

endurance, agility, muscle flexibility, and reflexes. The fifth class of benefits are

cognitive gains that consist of mind clearing and thinking, enhancement of

concentration and brain function. Finally the coping benefits are those gains of

physical exercise that encompass stress relief, relaxation, distraction from

worries, reduction in aggression, frustration, and anger.

The benefits of physical exercise are further highlighted by Blomstrand,

Björkelund, Ariai, Lissner and Bengtsson (2009) whose cross-sectional analysis

of Swedish women reports strong associations between physical exercise activity

and the experience of well-being. The study found that increased physical

exercise participation promotes both health and well-being of exercisers.

Similarly, in their study of around 8000 respondents in the Netherlands, Stubbe,

de Moor, Boomstra, and de Geus (2007) report that exercisers are more satisfied

with their life and are happier than non-exercisers. The study concluded that

there is a strong relationship between physical exercise participation and high

levels of life satisfaction and happiness. Recent evidence about the importance of

exercises in producing positive physiological and health benefits is presented by

Lovell et al. (2010) and Burke and McCarthy (2011). According to Lovell et al.

(2010), the perceived benefits from exercise were: physical performance,

psychological outlook, preventive health, life enhancement, and social

interaction. This is consistent with Burke and McCarthy‟s (2011) findings on the

lifestyle behaviours and exercise beliefs of undergraduate student nurses in

Ireland which noted that physical exercise is beneficial as it helps to achieve

ideal body images and a sense of personal accomplishment.

With regard to barriers to physical exercise participation, substantial evidence

exists to show that many perceived barriers exist to inhibit people from adopting

and maintaining an active lifestyle (Schutzer & Graves, 2004; Daskapan et al.,

2006; Burke & McCarthy, 2011). A barrier to physical exercise is described by

Henderson and Ainsworth (2003) as a constraint that inhibits a person from

being physically active. In their study of perceptions about physical activity

among older African American and American Indian women, Henderson and

Ainsworth (2003) reported that the perceived constraints include a range of

problems such as finding time and space to exercise, time constraint, job

demands, physical tiredness and illness, major life changes or traumas, safety

issues, disabling weather and environment, the bother of personal care such as

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 59

hair dressing and showering, lack of facilities and opportunities. It is interesting

here to note that Henderson and Ainsworth (2003) report about physical

tiredness as one of the barriers found in their study but O‟Dea (2003) reports that

physical exercise is beneficial at it reduces tiredness.

Higgins, Lauzon, Yew, Bratseth and McLeod (2010) found that issues of time,

finances, workload, and lack of accessible and affordable facilities were major

barriers inhibiting Canadian university students from wellness programmes.

Lopez et al. (2010) identified both internal and external perceived barriers by

Spanish university students in the practice of physical exercise activities. While

on one hand external barriers refer to constraints such as time constraints and

lack of social support, on the other hand internal constraints are barriers ranging

from disliking exercise, ignorance about the benefits of exercise, laziness, and

lack of confidence in one‟s ability to exercise (Lopez et al., 2010). Similarly,

high school students interviewed in Canada by Allison, Dwyer and Makin (1999)

reported that time constraints due to schoolwork, existence of other interests and

family activities were barriers that were considered as important. Other

constraints were mood, lack of energy, lack of self-discipline, discomfort, cost,

stress, lack of family and friends support, illness and injury (Allison et al., 1999).

Reichert, Barros, Domingues and Hallal‟s (2007) study found a strong

association between physical inactivity and lack of money, feeling too tired,

dislike of exercising, and lack of company. Besides time constraints and lack of

social support, the other major barriers identified by O‟Dea (2003) were

preference for indoor activities, low level of energy, lack of self-motivation, low

levels of motivation from others and low perceived rewards. Schutzer and

Graves (2004) found environmental constraints including absence of sidewalks,

parks, recreation centres, fitness facilities and security, as barriers to exercise.

The authors also state that lack of physician advice and lack of knowledge can

also negatively affect exercise participation. The other barriers to physical

exercise include lack of information and expensive facilities (Samir, Mahmud &

Khuwaja, 2011), long distance to exercise facilities (Burke & McCarthy, 2011)

and family discouragement (Lovell et al., 2010).

Very few studies have been conducted to identify first year university students‟

perceived benefits and barriers of exercise activity which is lacking. This study

attempts to fill the gap in research. Universities are well-positioned health

promotion stakeholders since they offer the „last opportunity‟ in the provision

health and wellness education especially to incoming or first year university

students (Higgins et al., 2010).

The study is necessary because physical exercise is now regarded to play a key

role in the promotion of good health. In order to promote a healthy young

population, it is crucial for stakeholders to have an insight the perceived benefits

60 Nolan, Sandaba and Surujlal

and barriers to physical exercise in South Africa. The outcome of this study

could inform policy holders and other stakeholders about the development of

policy and intervention strategies to promote the health of young adults. The

current study is the first phase of a longitudinal study. The researchers intend to

replicate the study with the same sample in their third year of study to ascertain

whether similar perceived barriers and benefits still exist. It would be interesting

to determine if and how the perceived benefits and barriers have changed as

students‟ progress towards their final year and to enter the workforce. Steptoe, et

al. (2002) found that beliefs about the importance of regular exercise remained

stable overall over a decade.

The purpose of this study was to identify perceived benefits and barriers to

physical exercise in first year university students in South Africa. To achieve the

purpose of the study, the following objectives are formulated:

To ascertain the perceived benefits and barriers to exercise among first year university students

To identify if differences exist between male and female university students‟ perception of benefits and barriers to exercise.

Methodology

Sample

Purposive sampling was used to select 507 first year university students from

three university campuses in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Patton (2002) describes a purposive sample as a non-representative subset of some

larger population (in this study first year freshman university students) and is

constructed to serve a very specific need or purpose. In this study, the

participants were incoming students who were doing their freshman year

regardless of academic programmes.

Of the 507 questionnaires administered, 462 (91%) completed questionnaires

were returned. The mean age of the first year students was 19.98±2.25 years and

almost all the students were single (99%). More female students (58%) than male

students (42%) participated in the study. Most students (45%) perceived their

fitness level as moderate active, 30% followed an on-off active lifestyle; 22%

were very active and only 3% indicated that they lead sedentary lifestyle.

Instrument and procedures

In order to identify the perceived benefits and barriers associated with physical

exercise participation among first year university students, an adapted version of

a reliable and validated instrument, the Exercise Benefits Barriers Scale (EBBS)

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 61

(Sechrist, Walker & Pender, 1987) was used. The questionnaire comprised two

sections. Section A requested the participants to provide demographic

information. Section B of the questionnaire sought responses regarding benefits

and barriers associated with participation in physical exercise. Items in Section B

of the questionnaire were scored on a four-point Likert scale ranging from

strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4).

The benefit component comprised 29 questions categorised into five subscales:

life enhancement (8 questions), physical performance (8 questions),

psychological outlook (6 questions), social interaction (4 questions) and

preventative health (3 questions). The barrier component comprised 14 questions

categorized into four subscales: exercise milieu (6 questions), time expenditure

(3 questions), physical exertion (3 questions) and family discouragement (2

questions). For the current study, the internal consistency for the benefit

component was α=0.866 and α=0.692 for the barrier component. The overall

internal consistency for Section B was α=0.737. Both these consistencies were

within the suggested benchmark of 0.7 (Nunnally, 1978:245) indicating that the

benefit and barrier scale are reliable.

Academics at three different campuses were requested to administer the

questionnaires to first year students. While a non-probability convenience

sampling procedure was utilized, randomisation of data collection was ensured

by administering questionnaires at three different campuses. This also allowed

for a large number of questionnaires to be administered to respondents in a

relatively short period of time (Churchill, 2001).

Data analysis

The returned questionnaires were subjected to editing and coding for input into

the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (PASW Statistics – version 18 for

Windows). To ascertain the perceived benefits and barriers of participation in

physical exercise, percentages were calculated for each EBBS question. To

establish the greatest perceived benefit of exercise as well as barrier(s) with

strongest inhibiting effect to exercise, a one-way repeated measure ANOVA was

applied. The independent t-test was applied to test if there is a significant

difference between female and male students‟ perception of benefits and barriers

to exercise activities. Cohen‟s D was also applied to determine the practical

effect of the statistical significance difference. A value larger than 0.8 indicates a

large effect, 0.5 - 0.8 a medium effect and 0.2 - 0.5 a small effect (Cohen, 1988).

Results

The perceived benefits to exercise according to EBBS and percentages to each

question in the benefit sub-scale are provided in Table 1. Most students agreed

62 Nolan, Sandaba and Surujlal

with the statements reflecting benefits that are associated with participation in

regular exercise.

Table 1: The exercise benefits scale: percentage for each questionnaire item

Perceived Benefit Item Strongly

disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly

agree

Preventive Health Subscale

I will prevent heart attacks by exercising 2.8 9.7 46.8 40.7

Exercising will keep me from having high blood

pressure

4.3 8.9 48.9 37.9

I will live longer if I exercise 5.4 11.7 38.1 44.8

Physical Performance Subscale

Exercise increases my muscle strength 1.5 11.9 49.4 37.2

Exercising increases my level of physical fitness 2.4 5.8 42.2 49.6

My muscle tone is improved with exercise 3.5 13.2 60.6 22.7

Exercising improves functioning of my

cardiovascular system

3.2 11.7 62.8 22.3

Exercise increases my stamina 3.2 9.1 50.4 37.2

Exercise improves my flexibility 1.9 4.5 47.8 45.7

My physical endurance is improved by

exercising

0.9 12.1 63.4 23.6

Exercise improves the way my body looks 1.9 7.4 39.0 51.7

Psychological Outlook Subscale

I enjoy exercise 2.4 10.0 61.7 26.0

Exercise decreases feelings of stress and tension

for me

1.9 8.9 48.1 41.1

Exercise improves my mental health 1.9 7.4 48.3 42.4

Exercise gives me a sense of personal

accomplishment

1.7 12.8 61.5 24.0

Exercising makes me feel relaxed 3.7 13.6 53.2 29.4

I have improved feelings of well-being from

exercise

3.7 10.4 60.2 25.8

Life Enhancement Subscale

My disposition is improved by exercise 5.6 26.4 59.5 8.4

Exercising helps me sleep better at night 3.7 11.5 47.2 37.7

Exercise helps me decrease fatigue 4.8 21.9 56.5 16.9

Exercising improves my self-concept 1.7 10.4 67.7 20.1

Exercising increases my mental alertness 3.7 13.0 57.1 26.2

Exercise allows me to carry out normal activities

without becoming tired

2.2 13.9 51.7 32.3

Exercise improves the quality of my work 5.0 17.7 55.4 21.9

Exercise improves overall body functioning for

me

1.9 6.9 60.6 30.5

Social Interaction Subscale

Exercising lets me have contract with friends and

persons I enjoy

11.3 25.3 41.1 22.3

Exercising is a good way for me to meet new

people

11.3 22.1 45.2 21.4

Exercise is good entertainment for me 5.8 17.5 46.3 30.3

Exercising increases my acceptance by others 13.2 35.1 40.7 11.0

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 63

In particular, the students strongly agreed with the following statements:

„exercising increases my level of physical fitness‟, „exercise improved the way

my body looks‟ and „I will live longer if I exercise‟.

Although most of the students either agreed or strongly agreed with the

statements classified under the social interaction subscale, approximately 23%

and 48% either strongly disagreed or disagreed with the statements. Specifically,

48.3% of the students did not perceive that „exercising increased their acceptance

by others‟ as a benefit.

The perceived barriers to exercise according to EBBS and responses to each

question expressed as a percentage in the barrier sub-scale are provided in Table

2. Most students disagreed with the statements that reflected barriers that are

associated with participation in regular exercise. Specifically, the students

strongly disagreed with the statements: „I am embarrassed to exercise‟, „it cost

too much money to exercise‟ and „my family members do not encourage me to

exercise‟. These were not viewed as barriers that hinder them in their exercise

participation.

Table 2: The exercise barriers scale: percentage for each questionnaire item.

Perceived Barriers Item Strongly

disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly

agree

Physical Exertion Subscale

Exercise tires me 10.4 38.3 38.1 13.2

I am fatigued by exercise 14.3 47.4 34.6 3.7

Exercise is hard work for me 31.0 43.5 18.2 7.4

Exercise Milieu Subscale

Places for me to exercise are too far away 20.3 45.7 20.1 13.9

I am too embarrassed to exercise 61.3 32.3 4.3 2.2

It costs too much money to exercise 50.2 35.3 9.7 4.8

Exercise facilities do not have convenient

schedules for me

12.6 51.3 32.3 3.9

I think people in exercise clothes look funny 33.3 38.7 19.3 8.7

There are too few places for me to exercise 13.9 32.9 38.3 14.9

Time Expenditure Subscale

Exercising takes too much of my time 22.5 58.9 12.1 6.5

Exercise takes too much time from family

relationships

33.5 50.2 10.8 5.4

Exercise takes too much time from my family

responsibility

31.8 52.2 10.8 5.2

Family Discouragement Subscale

My spouse (or significant other) does not

encourage exercising

37.2 42.2 16.0 4.5

My family members do not encourage me to

exercise

40.9 35.1 15.2 8.9

The overall disagreements of students with the statements in the barrier scale

indicate that there are very few barriers to participation in exercise for the

64 Nolan, Sandaba and Surujlal

students. “There are too few places for me to exercise” was perceived as a barrier

that hinders most students (38.3%) in participating in exercise.

The greatest perceived benefits from exercise was preventative health

(mean=3.23) and physical performance (mean=3.22), followed by psychological

outlook, life enhancement and social interaction (Table 3). Preventative health

and physical performance was rated significantly higher than life enhancement

and social interaction. Physical performance was also rated significantly higher

than psychological outlook. However, life enhancement and social interaction

were rated significantly lower than the other benefits subscales. The average

mean for preventative health, physical performance, psychological outlook and

life enhancement was greater than 3, which suggests that the students agreed

with the statements in the benefits subscales.

The barrier with the strongest inhibiting effect to physical exercise participation

is physical exertion, followed by exercise milieu, time expenditure and family

discouragement. Physical exertion was rated significantly higher than the other

barriers listed in Table 3. Exercise milieu was also rated higher than time

expenditure and family discouragement. No significant difference was found

between time expenditure and family discouragement. The average mean for the

four barriers was approximately 2, which indicate that the students disagreed

with the statements in the subscales implying that the students do not perceive

physical exertion, exercise milieu, time expenditure and family discouragement

as barriers that hinder their participation in exercise.

Table 3: Descriptive statistics for the perceived benefits and barriers sub-scale

Mean (SD) Sub-scale

1 2 3 4 5

Benefits subscale

1. Preventative health 3.23 (0.55) - 1.000 0.108 0.000* 0.000*

2. Physical performance 3.22 (0.43) - 0.013* 0.000* 0.000*

3. Psychological outlook 3.16 (0.44) - 0.000* 0.000*

4. Life enhancement 3.02 (0.39) - 0.000*

5. Social interaction 2.76 (0.62) -

Barriers sub-scale

1. Physical exertion 2.28 (0.56) - 0.000* 0.000* 0.000*

2. Exercise milieu 2.05 (0.46) - 0.000* 0.000*

3. Time expenditure 1.93 (0.60) - 1.000

4. Family discouragement 1.90 (0.70) -

* Significant at p≤ 0.05

A comparison of the means (Table 4) across the first year students for each

perceived benefit to exercise activities revealed that both female and male

students agreed that preventative health, physical performance, psychological

outlook and life enhancement are benefits associated with participation in

exercise. If the mean for the social interaction benefit is rounded numerically, the

mean will be 3, indicating that students agreed that social interaction is a benefit

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 65

to participation in exercise. The mean of the responses for male students were

slightly higher for all the benefits, except for preventative health. A statistical

significant difference was found between male and female students for the

physical performance benefit, indicating that male students perceived physical

performance more important than female students. No statistical significant

difference was found for the preventative health, psychological outlook, life

enhancement and social interaction benefit, indicating that female and male

students share similar views. The Cohen‟s D value was less than 0.2 indicating

that no practical effect was found for the physical performance benefit or any

other benefit in Table 4.

Table 4: Descriptive statistics, statistical and practical significance of the perceived benefits of

exercise

Preventative

health

Physical

performance

Psychological

outlook

Life

enhancement

Social

interaction

Mean

(SD)

Female

students

3.25 (0.54) 3.16 (0.43) 3.15 (0.44) 3.01 (0.37) 2.71

(0.59)

Male

students

3.20 (0.56) 3.31 (0.42) 3.17 (0.44) 3.03 (0.41) 2.82

(0.65)

t-test t value 0.927 3.705 0.312 0.372 1.917

Significance 0.354 0.000* 0.755 0.710 0.056

Practical

effect

Cohen‟s D 0.002 0.029 0.000 0.000 0.008

Effect None None None None None

* Significant at p≤ 0.05

A comparison of the means (Table 5) across the first year students for each

perceived barrier to exercise activities revealed that both female and male

students disagreed that physical exertion, exercise milieu, time expenditure and

family discouragement are barriers associated with participation in exercise.

Table 5: Descriptive statistics, statistical and practical significance of the perceived barriers to

exercise Physical

exertion

Exercise

milieu

Time

expenditure

Family

discouragement

Mean (SD) Female students 2.26 (0.54) 2.01 (0.45) 1.97 (0.63) 1.94 (0.712)

Male students 2.29 (0.58) 2.10 (0.47) 1.91 (0.57) 1.87 (0.70)

t-test t value -0.513 2.107 1.109 1.033

Significance 0.608 0.036* 0.268 0.302

Practical

effect

Cohen‟s D 0.001 0.010 0.003 0.002

Effect None None None None

* Significant at p≤ 0.05

The mean responses for male students were slightly higher for physical exertion

and exercise milieu barrier, whereas the mean responses for female students were

higher for time expenditure and family discouragement barrier. A statistical

significant difference was found between male and female students for the

exercise milieu barrier, indicating that male students disagreed more towards the

barrier than female students. No statistical significant difference was found for

66 Nolan, Sandaba and Surujlal

the other barriers listed in Table 5, indicating that male and female students share

similar views. The Cohen‟s D value is less than 0.2 indicating that no practical

effect was found for the physical exertion, exercise milieu, time expenditure and

family discouragement barrier.

Discussion

In contrast to findings in previous studies (e.g. Allison, Dwyer, Goldenberg,

Fein, Yoshida Boutilier, 2005; Gyurcsik, Bray & Brittain, 2004; Grubbs &

Carter, 2002) which reported that lack of time was the greatest barrier to

participation in physical exercise, the current study identified the lack of

facilities or infrastructure and tiredness as constraining factors. Being first year

students and the fact that most of these students may be living in areas away

from their home environment; the possibility exists that they may not have fully

acclimatised to their new environment. They thus perceive that there is a lack of

facilities at which they can exercise. With regard to the tiredness that they

experience, it should be acknowledged that these students are fresh from the

school environment where they were literally „spoon fed‟. The new environment

that they find themselves in is much more demanding in that they are expected to

work independently as well as accustom themselves to a new environment. It

may also be possible that the cultural background from which these students

come could have an influence on their participation in physical exercise (Lovell

et al., 2010). If the norm, according to the student‟s background was not to

exercise, this would impact on his/her attitude towards participation which would

ultimately influence his/her fitness levels. This may also be related to the

responsibility that students have towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Lee and

Yuen Loke (2005) found that students had a limited sense of health

responsibility and relatively few engaged in physical activity and practised

nutritional habits.

The strongest perceived benefits for students were related to improved health and

physical performance, enhanced psychological outlook and life enhancement.

This finding echo Dreyer, Strydom and Malan‟s (1988) finding that participating

in physical activity and a healthy lifestyle are considered to be the most

important factors in maintaining optimal health. The benefit of exercise on the

psychological outlook of students, indicate that student participate in exercise

because it is fun, reduce their stress levels and improve their mental well-being.

This is consistent with studies by Nolan and Surujlal (2009, 2010). It is also

supported by Alla, Olubayo-Fatiregun and Adeniran (2007) that exercise diverts

one‟s mind from stress, provides one with a positive outlook on life and impacts

positively on work-related stress.

A surprising finding was that social interaction scored lowly as a benefit, while it

is understandable taking into account the context in which the student is

Perceived benefits and barriers to physical exercise participation 67

functioning. Being in the first year of study in a totally new environment the

student is still finding his/her feet and may therefore not focus on social

interaction. One may, however, argue that being in a new environment students

would more than likely attempt to make new friends and socialise. Huddleston,

Mertesdorf and Araki (2002) highlighted the strong social interaction benefits

associated with participation in physical exercise. In addition, the World Health

Organisation posits that engaging in physical activities give young people

opportunities to have social interaction and integration as well as for learning the

spirit of solidarity and fair play, among others (WHO, 2002).

Conclusion

Participation in physical exercise poses many benefits and if a student engages in

an exercise that he/she enjoys a healthy life. This study found that, amongst first

years students, benefits regarding participation in exercise prevail over barriers

experience in participation in exercise activities. First year students recognise the

benefits of participating in exercises and face barriers that hinders them in their

participation in physical exercise. To help students face the barriers, they need to

understand the barriers and apply creative strategies to overcome them and this

could help students to make physical exercise part of their daily lives.

Universities are ideal settings, because they are transitional periods that offer

good conditions for the acquisitions of healthy lifestyles.

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