Mauritius has Type 2 Diabetes mellitus as public health issue, whereby unhealthy modes of eating and sedentary lifestyles are factors to be addressed in the primary prevention of the disease among the youth. This study was thus designed to investigate the prevalence of Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among university students in Mauritius and to explore their motivations and constraints to engage in LTPA, using the ecological model of health promotion. Data were collected from a representative group of university students in Mauritius using a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to LTPA issues were collected. Three-fifths of the participants met the recommended levels of LTPA. The majority of inactive participants were female. Motivations provided by participants to engage in LTPA were predominantly intrapersonal. The three most mentioned motivations were improvement in physical health, improvement in physical appearance and to have fun. Constraints faced by participants to engage in LTPA were mainly of an intrapersonal nature. The three main constraints provided by students were lack of time, having to study and not being motivated. Therefore, interventions to promote LTPA among university students should simultaneously address development of time-management skills and provision of incentives to perform LTPA.
| Published in | American Journal of Health Research (Volume 1, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11 |
| Page(s) | 1-8 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Leisure-Time Physical Activity, Motivation, Constraint, University Students, Mauritius
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APA Style
Marie CHAN SUN, Kawthur B. AZMUTALLY. (2013). Leisure-Time Physical Activity among University Students in Mauritius. American Journal of Health Research, 1(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11
ACS Style
Marie CHAN SUN; Kawthur B. AZMUTALLY. Leisure-Time Physical Activity among University Students in Mauritius. Am. J. Health Res. 2013, 1(1), 1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11
AMA Style
Marie CHAN SUN, Kawthur B. AZMUTALLY. Leisure-Time Physical Activity among University Students in Mauritius. Am J Health Res. 2013;1(1):1-8. doi: 10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11,
author = {Marie CHAN SUN and Kawthur B. AZMUTALLY},
title = {Leisure-Time Physical Activity among University Students in Mauritius},
journal = {American Journal of Health Research},
volume = {1},
number = {1},
pages = {1-8},
doi = {10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajhr.20130101.11},
abstract = {Mauritius has Type 2 Diabetes mellitus as public health issue, whereby unhealthy modes of eating and sedentary lifestyles are factors to be addressed in the primary prevention of the disease among the youth. This study was thus designed to investigate the prevalence of Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among university students in Mauritius and to explore their motivations and constraints to engage in LTPA, using the ecological model of health promotion. Data were collected from a representative group of university students in Mauritius using a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to LTPA issues were collected. Three-fifths of the participants met the recommended levels of LTPA. The majority of inactive participants were female. Motivations provided by participants to engage in LTPA were predominantly intrapersonal. The three most mentioned motivations were improvement in physical health, improvement in physical appearance and to have fun. Constraints faced by participants to engage in LTPA were mainly of an intrapersonal nature. The three main constraints provided by students were lack of time, having to study and not being motivated. Therefore, interventions to promote LTPA among university students should simultaneously address development of time-management skills and provision of incentives to perform LTPA.},
year = {2013}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Leisure-Time Physical Activity among University Students in Mauritius AU - Marie CHAN SUN AU - Kawthur B. AZMUTALLY Y1 - 2013/06/30 PY - 2013 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11 T2 - American Journal of Health Research JF - American Journal of Health Research JO - American Journal of Health Research SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-8796 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajhr.20130101.11 AB - Mauritius has Type 2 Diabetes mellitus as public health issue, whereby unhealthy modes of eating and sedentary lifestyles are factors to be addressed in the primary prevention of the disease among the youth. This study was thus designed to investigate the prevalence of Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) among university students in Mauritius and to explore their motivations and constraints to engage in LTPA, using the ecological model of health promotion. Data were collected from a representative group of university students in Mauritius using a self-administered questionnaire. Qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to LTPA issues were collected. Three-fifths of the participants met the recommended levels of LTPA. The majority of inactive participants were female. Motivations provided by participants to engage in LTPA were predominantly intrapersonal. The three most mentioned motivations were improvement in physical health, improvement in physical appearance and to have fun. Constraints faced by participants to engage in LTPA were mainly of an intrapersonal nature. The three main constraints provided by students were lack of time, having to study and not being motivated. Therefore, interventions to promote LTPA among university students should simultaneously address development of time-management skills and provision of incentives to perform LTPA. VL - 1 IS - 1 ER -
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