Abstract
Objective
To identify barriers and enablers for healthful weight management among college students.
Design
Sixteen on-line focus groups, homogeneous by sex and university.
Setting
Eight universities in 8 states.
Participants
College students (N = 115; 55% female; mean age 19.7 ± 1.6).
Analysis
Qualitative software, Nvivo version 2 (QSR International, Victoria, Australia, 2002),
was used; similar codes were grouped together and categorized using an ecological
model.
Results
Males and females cited the same barriers to weight management: intrapersonal (eg,
temptation and lack of discipline); interpersonal (social situations); and environmental
(eg, time constraints, ready access to unhealthful food). Similar enablers were identified
by sex: intrapersonal (eg, regulating food intake, being physically active); interpersonal
(social support); and environmental (eg, university's environment supports physical
activity). More barriers than enablers were given, indicating that these college students
were more sensitive to barriers than the enablers for weight management. Factors viewed
by some students as barriers to weight management were viewed as enablers by others.
Conclusions and Implications
When designing weight management interventions for college students, sex specificity
may not be as important as considering that a barrier for one student may be an enabler
for another. From an ecological perspective, individually focused interventions must
be implemented in conjunction with environmental-level interventions to facilitate
behavior change.
Key Words
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Article info
Footnotes
The study was supported by the National Research Initiative of the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant number #2005-35215-15412.
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 Society for Nutrition Education. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
