Fear as a barrier to physical activity in young adults with obesity: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Obesity continues to be a growing public health problem worldwide. In adults with obesity, physical activity has health benefits beyond those directly attributable to weight loss. However, adults with obesity encounter various barriers to physical activity. Some barriers including fear, have received little academic attention, particularly in adults under 45 years. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore how fears about physical activity are experienced by, and impact on, adults with obesity aged 18 to 45 years. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken in a sample of 10 participants with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m². Analysis was conducted using the six phases of thematic analysis from the guidelines of Braun and Clarke. Participants gave detailed accounts of their experiences of fear and how it impacted on physical activity. Three themes were extracted: (1) fear as a barrier to physical activity; (2) threats, concerns and worries about weight underpinning fear(s) of activity; and (3) the consequences of fear(s). The findings suggest that the emotion of fear, particularly pain-related fear(s), were a frequent and important barrier to physical activity among younger adults with obesity. This is an important finding because of the risk it poses to health behaviour change. The findings provide some evidence that younger adults experience fear avoidance beliefs aligned to the conceptual principles of the Fear Avoidance Model. Further research is needed to further explore this relationship in a larger sample of younger adults with obesity, and explore its implications for promoting behaviour change in this group.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotions
• obesity
• physical activity
• barriers
• health behaviour

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely thank all the participants who voluntarily gave up their time to contribute to the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Edge Hill University.

Notes on contributors

Oliver Hamer

Oliver Hamer has a PhD in Public Health Epidemiology and works within the Synthesis, Economic Evaluation and Decision Science (SEEDS) Group, for the NIHR ARC NWC. His research interests are in public health, evidence synthesis methodology, psychometrics and health inequalities.

Derek Larkin

Derek Larkin is a Senior Lecturer, specialising in the area of Clinical and Abnormal Psychology. In 2010, Derek was awarded the prestigious student-led staff award for his teaching, in recognition of his ability to share his specialist knowledge in an enthusiastic and fascinating way.

Nicola Relph

Nicola Relph is a Senior Lecturer with a PhD in MSK injuries, particularly ACL injury. She has a specific research interest in lower-limb injuries in people beginning physical activity for the first time, with focus on injury prevention strategies.

Paola Dey

Paola Dey trained as a medic specialising in public health (MD). Her methodological areas of expertise include quantitative research particularly randomised controlled trials of prevention and service delivery and her areas of interest are musculoskeletal (particularly patellofemoral pain), cancer, stroke and inequalities in access to health services.