Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity Among Youth Living in Rural and Urban Canadian Communities: A Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Study

Taru Manyanga; Nicole White; Larine Sluggett; Annie Duchesne; David Anekwe; Chelsea Pelletier

doi:10.1123/jpah.2023-0254

Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity Among Youth Living in Rural and Urban Canadian Communities: A Nationally Representative Cross-Sectional Study

J Phys Act Health. 2024 Apr 4:1-12. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2023-0254. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Taru Manyanga^{1

2}, Nicole White³, Larine Sluggett³, Annie Duchesne⁴, David Anekwe^{1

2}, Chelsea Pelletier⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Medical Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada.
² Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
³ University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada.
⁵ School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Human and Health Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada.

PMID: 38575136
DOI: 10.1123/jpah.2023-0254

Abstract

Background: We used nationally representative data to explore associations among location of residence (rural/urban) and perceived barriers to physical activity (PA) in Canadian youth.

Methods: We analyzed the 2017 Canadian Community Health Survey, Barriers to Physical Activity Rapid Response data for 12- to 17-year-old youth. Nine items from the survey assessing perceived barriers to PA were combined into 3 barrier domains: resources, motivational, and socioenvironmental. The likelihood of reporting barriers to PA based on rural-urban location was examined using survey-weighted binary logistic regression following a model fitting approach. Sociodemographic factors were modeled as covariates and tested in interaction with location. For each barrier domain, we derived the best-fitting model with fewest terms.

Results: There were no location-specific effects related to reporting any barrier or motivation-related PA barriers. We found a sex by location interaction predicting the likelihood of reporting resource-related barriers. Rural boys were less likely to report resource-related barriers compared with urban boys (odds ratio [OR] = 0.42 [0.20, 0.88]). Rural girls were more likely to report resource-related barriers compared with boys (OR = 3.72 [1.66, 8.30]). Regarding socioenvironmental barriers, we observed a significant body mass index by location interaction demonstrating that rural youth with body mass index outside the "normal range" showed a higher likelihood of reporting socioenvironmental barriers compared with urban youth (OR = 2.38 [1.32, 4.30]). For urban youth, body mass index was unrelated to reporting socioenvironmental barriers (OR = 1.07 [0.67, 1.71]).

Conclusion: PA barriers are not universal among Canadian youth. Our analyses highlight the importance of testing interactions in similar studies as well as considering key sociodemographic characteristics when designing interventions.

Keywords: Canadian youth; interaction testing; perceived physical activity barriers; physical activity guidelines; rural versus urban.