Perceived benefits of, barriers and helpful cues to physical activity among tertiary institution students in Rwanda

Abstract

According to literature, particularly from data obtained from the World Health Organisation, physical inactivity or sedentarism is one of the leading causes of the major non-communicable diseases, which contributes substantially to the global burden of diseases, death and disability. The burden of mortality, morbidity and disability attributable to non-communicable diseases is currently greatest and is continuing to grow in the developing countries. Most declines in physical activity are during the transition from high school to college or university. The aim of the study was to ascertain perceptions of physical activity, specifically; perceived benefits of, perceived barriers and perceived helpful motivational factors to physical activity among tertiary institution students in Rwanda, and to find out whether demographic and background characteristics have an influence on these perceptions.