Identifying Barriers to Physical Activity for Middle-Aged Female Employees at UBC-Affiliated Food Services
Creators: name: Zhou, Mabel
name: Bumagat, Shairah
name: Theobald, Joe
name: Mei, Maggie
name: Luk, Victor
Publisher: name: The University of British Columbia
Year: 2018

description: Objective: To compare physical activity levels of women 40-55 years of age working at food outlets run by University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver campus. Study Design: This report describes the evaluation of women’s (n=13) overall health, family structure, physical activity levels, levels of perceived fatigue during and after their shift, relationship between coworkers, and barriers to physical activity. Surveys were analyzed using SPSS Statistics after the data collection period to identify the frequency and correlation analyses associated with physical activity participation. Results: The top three barriers to physical activity are time, money, and health concerns. 92% of participations reported that health was very or extremely important to them and their family. 31% of participants reported to engage in physical activity beyond working hours. On a scale from 1-5, participants on average reported their mental and social health as 3.8 and 3.9 respectively. In addition, participants on average reported their physical health as 3. Participants reported the quantity of sleep with an average of 4-7 hours per night. An average of 29 hours of work were reported. 15% of participants believed to be more active, 54% of participants perceived themselves as just as active, while 31% of participants assumed to be less active than others of correspondent age. Importance of health and participation in physical activity outside of work contained a positive relationship (0.42). Participation in physical activity had a moderately large positive relationship (0.38). Working hours and participation in physical activity outside of work had a negative relationship (-0.15). Co-worker relationship and likelihood to participate in physical activity with coworkers had a negative relationship (-0.11). The awareness of UBC recreational programs and participation in physical activity outside of work had a positive relationship (0.52), while awareness of recreational resources and engagement in physical activity had a positive relationship (0.64). Physical activity level and participation of physical activity outside of work had a positive relationship (0.15). The importance of exercising regularly and engagement in physical activity had a positive relationship (0.18). Conclusion: To address the barriers to physical activity, random dancing during non-peak hours could increase the amount of physical activity without spending too much time outside of work. With regards to financial issues, stamp cards/ access cards are recommended to motivate and interest employees. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”