Salient Beliefs Held by Obese Youth Regarding Physical Activity

The purpose of this study was to use the TPB to identify salient beliefs about being active in a group of obese children. Fifteen children aged 7 - 14 years (Mean age 11.3+ or -2.4; 2 male, 13 female) participated in individual, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. All children were Caucasian, obese and were part of a physician-referred weight loss intervention program. The children identified fun (26.7%), being with friends (26.7%), and being outside (20%) as the most salient facilitators of being active; whereas being unmotivated to move/tired was the top barrier (26.7%) followed by other obligations/activities (13.3%) and not being able to go outside (13.3%). The most mentioned benefit of being active was losing weight (66.7%) and the possibility of injury (53.3%) was the principal disadvantage. While participants felt no one (66.7%) would disapprove of them being active, mom (86.7%) was most frequently mentioned as the approving group.