Obstacles to Action
In 2003, SPARC and the New Zealand Cancer Society undertook a study of over 8,000 New Zealanders to find out about motivators and barriers to physical activity, nutrition, community facilities, obesity and sources of health information.
The results of this study are presented in a number of reports called 'Obstacles to Action: A Study of New Zealanders' Physical Activity and Nutrition'.
Key motivators and barriers
Obstacles to Action examined the motivators and barriers to physical activity, to try to understand the 'why' and 'why not' of physical activity. It looked at a number of areas, including the following:
- What are people's attitudes and opinions on physical activity?
- What reasons do people have for being - or not being - physically active?
- What encourages people to be physically active - or discourages them from being physically active?
- What might make people be more physically active?
The study found that key barriers include:
- lack of time and/or energy
- lack of encouragement or support from others
- health problems.
The study found that key motivators include:
- awareness and belief that physical activity is good for your health
- desire to keep in shape
- encouragement from others or wanting to role model physically active behaviours.
Read the Overview Report online
- You can read the Overview Report online using the links in the Contents below, the menu on the left-hand side of this page, or the 'Next' links to progress through the document.
Contents
>> Next: Needs Assessment
Download the reports
Overview Report
The Overview Report tells you more about the results of the study, and summary information on the methodology. (Further details on the study, including methodology and sampling, is available in the Technical Report further down this page.)
Supplementary reports
On dial-up? You can access and download smaller versions of these reports in the Downloads - Smaller file sizes section at the bottom of this page.
Profile reports
The total sample was divided into three groups, based on their current level of physical activity and intentions to be physically active. (Note that 'active', as it is used below, means carrying out 30 minutes of moderate activity or 15 minutes of vigorous activity):
- Inactive group - 'active' either zero or one day during the previous week, and no stated intention of becoming regularly active in the next six months.
- Active group - 'regularly active' (ie, active five or more days a week) already, and has been for more than six months.
- Target group - the remainder: not already regularly active (unless for less than the past six months), but they do have some intention of becoming regularly active in the next six months or they were active for two or more days during the previous week.
The Target group was split into six segments, each with their own needs, motivations, attitudes and behaviours. Profile reports from the Obstacles to Action database have been prepared for three of these groups:
On dial-up? You can access and download smaller versions of these reports in the Downloads - Smaller file sizes section at the bottom of this page.
Obstacles to Action data
Guide to reading the tables
(Click to enlarge)
Related resources
Downloads - Smaller files sizes
Here you can access and download key reports in this series in smaller-sized files. These are designed to be accessible for people using dial-up connections. Note that some graphs in these files are not optimum quality.
Updated | 23 Mar 2007.
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