Barriers and Motivations to Exercise in Older African American and European American Women

Abstract

Older adults, women, and minorities are the least active segments of the US population. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and motivations to exercise associated with older African American and European American women. Eighty-nine European American and 115 African American women (mean age 72 years) completed a pencil-and-paper questionnaire composed of general demographic information and a list of 10 motivations and six barriers to exercise; participants were asked to check all barriers and motivations that applied to them. Significant ethnic differences were found for one barrier (too expensive) and one motivation (doctor’s orders). Significantly more European American women perceived expenses to be a barrier to exercise (χ 2 = 3.94, p<0.05) and significantly more African American women (χ 2 = 9.79, p<0.01) reported they exercised because their doctor told them to compared to the European American women. The African American women in our study were significantly heavier compared to the European American women. The researchers hypothesized that differences in body weight rather than ethnicity might explain the difference in frequency with which the women reported their physician’s advice as a motivation to exercise. Physicians might have viewed exercise as a way to treat a problem (i.e., overweight) rather than to prevent it.