Attitudes toward Physical Activity of Midlife Women

Background and Significance:  Although benefits of physical activity are now widely accepted, the participation rate in physical activity by midlife women, especially ethnic minority women, remains low. Also, prevalence rates of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, and all-cause mortality among ethnic minority women have been reported to be much higher than those of White midlife women. A plausible reason for the low participation rate is that the women’s unique attitudes toward physical activity have rarely been incorporated into physical activity promotion interventions.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore midlife women’s own attitudes toward physical activity among a multi-ethnic group of midlife women. A feminist approach was used to theoretical guide the study.

Methods:  The study was a cross-sectional feminist qualitative study using an online forum .The participants were 15 midlife women who were recruited using a convenience sampling method through the Internet communities/organizations for midlife women.  Ten online forum topics on attitudes toward physical activity and 7 online forum topics on ethnic-specific contexts were used. The online forum was conducted for 1-month, and the participants were asked to post 1-2 messages per topic whenever the topics were posted. The qualitative data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis involving line-by-line coding, categorization, and theme extraction. 

Findings:  A total of five themes emerged from the data analysis process: (a) “physical activity not going with women”; (b) “no time for physical activity”; (c) “environment matters”; (d) “diabetes made me do it;” and (e) “need a companion.” Women’s attitudes toward physical activity were influenced by their being a woman with multiple roles as a mothers, spouses, workers, and family caregivers. The women were too busy in their daily lives to fulfill the roles, so they could not find time for their physical activity.  Women’s physical activity was influenced by environmental factors such as weather, areas, and neighborhoods, and they were concerned about safety during their participation in physical activity. Women’s health status and health-related concerns were also influencing their participation in physical activity, and women preferred to do physical activity with their family members and/or friends.  All the themes agree with the findings of previous studies, especially those reported by feminist researchers

Implications: For future research, based on the findings of the study, we suggest that: (a) researchers further explore the influences of women’s multiple roles on physical activity; (b) researchers need to explore cultural factors that influence midlife women’s physical activity; (c) research further explore the influences of environmental factors on women’s physical activity; and (d) researchers further explore online forums as a new qualitative data collection method.