Perceived constraints on physical exercise among obese and non-obese older people Janne Sallinen a, ⁎, Raija Leinonen a,b , Mirja Hirvensalo c , Tiina-Mari Lyyra a , Eino Heikkinen a , Taina Rantanen a a The Finnish Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology, Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35 (Viveca), Jyväskylä 40014, Finland b GeroCenter Foundation for Research and Development, Jyväskylä, Finland c Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland abstract article info Available online 13 October 2009 Keywords: Overweight Obesity Risk factors Physical activity Exercise Objective. To examine what older obese people consider as constraints on their physical exercise and to determine whether these constraints can explain the differences in physical activity. Methods. Six hundred nineteen community-living people aged 75–81 years living in Jyväskylä, Central Finland, in 2003 were included in these cross-sectional analyses. Weight and height were measured at the research center, and physical activity and perceived constraints on physical exercise were assessed using validated questionnaires. Participants were categorized as non-obese (n = 436), moderately obese (n = 127) or severely obese (n = 56). Results. The risk of physical inactivity was two times higher in the moderately obese group (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.27–3.12) and over four times higher in the severely obese group (OR 4.58, 95% CI 2.55–8.24) compared to the non-obese group. Higher prevalence of comorbidities, pain, tiredness, fear of falling and injury, discomfort and feelings of insecurity when exercising explained almost half of the increased risk of physical inactivity of older severely obese people. Conclusions. Results suggest that physical activity promotion among older obese people may be well received as long as it focuses on factors that enable participation in physical activity and takes into account their constraints on physical activity. © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction The prevalence of obesity has increased among older adults and will likely continue to increase (Arterburn et al., 2004). Regular physical activity is beneficial for the physical capacity of the obese person (Koster et al., 2007; Lang et al., 2007), and thus physical activity needs to be increased among them. Obese people are a challenging group for physical activity promotion as they have more comorbidities and physical impairments and they report more unpleasant symptoms compared to their non-obese age peers, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and osteoarthritis, smaller muscle strength relative to body mass, pain and tiredness (Baumgartner et al., 2004; Villareal et al., 2004). Therefore, a good starting point for developing an intervention could derive from identifying perceived constraints to physical activity among older obese people. Among older people with a broad range of body mass indices, poor health and lack of interest are commonly mentioned as constraints on physical activity (Booth et al., 1997; Newson and Kemps, 2007; Cohen-Mansfield et al., 2003; Hirvensalo et al., 1998; Rasinaho et al., 2007). Many older people also have fear of falling and injury, and feel insecure when exercising outdoors (Newson and Kemps, 2007; Rasinaho et al., 2007; Booth et al., 2002; Howland et al., 1998; Wijlhuizen et al., 2007). However, only limited knowledge is available about the perceived constraints on physical activity among older obese people. Moreover, there is no information whether perceived constraints can explain an increased risk for physical inactivity among heavier older people. The word constraints is suggested to capture the wide range of explanations for physically inactivity including internal and external, intrapersonal and inter- personal, intervening and antecedent, blocking and inhibiting as well as permanent or temporary dimensions (Brawley et al., 1998). Minimizing of personal and environmental constraints on physical activity may help to increase physical activity participation among obese seniors (Bandura, 1986). The purpose of this study was to study the differences in constraints on physical exercise between community-dwelling obese and non-obese older people and to determine whether perceived constraints would explain the increased risk of physical Preventive Medicine 49 (2009) 506–510 ⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +358 14 260 4600. E-mail address: janne.sallinen@sport.jyu.fi (J. Sallinen). 0091-7435/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2009.10.001 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ypmed