Women struggle to work out because they are ‘less confident exercising than men’
Reported January 14, 2009
Women could find it harder to lose weight then men because they are less confident about exercising, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that a person’s belief in their own sporting abilities was crucial to how often they worked out.
The findings show that men were 10 per cent more likely to think that they were physically strong enough to exercise regularly than women.
In turn, they were 40 per cent more likely than women to go out and take physical activity, the study found.
The researchers believe that health advertisements should try to boost people’s confidence as part of a drive to increase exercise levels and help to curb a growing obesity crisis.
Earlier this month ministers launched a high-profile £8 million advertisement campaign to encourage people to “eat well, move more, live longer”.
The Government is concerned about the rising number of people struggling with their weight, which has left one in four Britons clinically obese.
Sai Yi Pan, from the Public Health Agency of Canada, who led the study, said: “Our findings highlight the need for health promotion programs to enhance people’s confidence and motivation, as well as providing education on the health benefits of physical activity”.
The findings, published in the journal BMC Public Health, show that how exercise is viewed can often be the main barrier to people becoming more active.
The study found that people who believed that they were fitter were also more likely to enjoy exercise when they did work out.
They were also less likely to think of excuses of why they could not exercise, than those less confident.
The research asked 5,167 people how confident they were that they could for exercise for half an hour a day three or four times a week, how often they did work out and how they felt about being physically active.