Children's perceptions of factors influencing their physical activity: a focus group study on primary school children

Establishing healthy lifestyle behaviours in primary school children is important, as these behaviours are likely to track into adulthood. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing physical activity (PA) in primary school children through their perspectives. Eleven focus group discussions...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being 2021-01, Vol.16 (1), p.1980279
Main Authors: Tay, Gabrielle Wann Nii, Chan, Mei Jun, Kembhavi, Gayatri, Lim, Jubilee, Rebello, Salome A., Ng, Hazyl, Lin, Congren, Shek, Lynette P., Lança, Carla, Müller-Riemenschneider, Falk, Chong, Mary Foong-Fong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Apathy
Availability
Behavior
Child
Children
Ecological studies
Elementary schools
Empirical Studies
Environmental aspects
Exercise
Female
Focus Groups
Humans
motivations
Parent-Child Relations
Perception
Permission
Perspectives of children
Physical activity
Qualitative research
Schools
socio-ecological model
Time use
Weather
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Summary:Establishing healthy lifestyle behaviours in primary school children is important, as these behaviours are likely to track into adulthood. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing physical activity (PA) in primary school children through their perspectives. Eleven focus group discussions and one interview were conducted with 52 children (n = 29 girls) aged 9-12 years from two primary schools in Singapore. Data analyses were conducted using thematic analysis, deductively following the socio-ecological model (SEM) and inductively for themes at each SEM level. At individual level, children's perceived enjoyment, health benefits and expectation of rewards motivated them to engage in PA, while time constraints and their apathy towards PA hindered PA engagement. Children's PA occasions at home were reported to be influenced by parental permission, priorities and availability, and the availability of preferred peers. Physical environmental factors such as opportunities for PA in school, access to facilities for PA and weather influenced children's time spent on PA and the types of activities they engaged in. This study summarized some factors that children have reported to influence their PA behaviour. These findings could help inform future interventions aimed at promoting PA among primary school children in Singapore.
ISSN:1748-2631
1748-2623
1748-2631
DOI:10.1080/17482631.2021.1980279