Associations among Perceived Benefits, Barriers, Cues, and Physical Activity in Thai Primary Students

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action and levels of physical activity in Thai fourth grade students. The Health Belief Model was used as the theoretical framework of the study to investigate students\u27 beliefs related to physical activity. The participants in this cross-sectional study were fourth grade students selected by a simple random sampling method. A sample of 123 students was recruited from primary schools in Muang district, Phitsanulok province. The sample schools were selected by stratified random sampling. For data collection, the study utilized two instruments: the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C), and the Cues, Perceived Benefits, and Barriers to Physical Activity Questionnaire. The PAQ-C was translated into Thai and then back translated to English. Both instruments were validated by experts and tested for reliability. The Cronbach\u27s alpha coefficient for the PAQ-C was .911, and .847, .837, and .915 for the perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action subscales, respectively. Pearson correlation, independent t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze data. The participants had a mean age of 9.87 years, had friends or parents that exercise, and received encouragement to exercise from parents. The mean score on the levels of physical activity questionnaire indicated a moderate level of physical activity; boys more often engaged in physical activity than girls. The top physical activities ranked by boys included bicycling, skipping and soccer, while the activities of girls were using a hula hoop, bicycling, and skipping. The findings of this study did not illustrate statistically significant relationships among independent variables and level of physical activity. However, the perceived barriers variable was inversely related to levels of physical activity. The perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to physical activity did not differ by gender or type of school. The findings of this study are useful for developing programs that help students reduce barriers to physical activity and programs that promote gender-specific physical activity. Nurses should advocate for school policy and for sufficient physical activity within school curricula