LAUSR

PurposeFaced with the high number of children who do not meet the physical activity guidelines, the identification of possible associated factors is essential. This study aims to identify what motivates and constraints children to engage in physical activities, and to observe how gender and urbanization may predict the perception of those barriers.MethodsA cross-sectional study in 793 children (51.3% girls) aged 6–10 years was carried in an urban and non-urban setting. Children were asked to self-report sport barriers. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to observe association of barriers with gender and place of residence.ResultsBarriers like “I am not good at sports”, “I do not like to be active”, and “I am not interest in pursuing a career related to sport” were more prevalent in girls than in boys. Urban children had higher odds than their non-urban peers of reporting that they do not watch women’s sport on television, and also lack of time, facilities nearby and weather as barriers to engage in sport. However, non-urban children said that their family engages in less physical activities with them compared to urban children.ConclusionsDifferences according to the gender were visible in psychological barriers, with girls being less motivated to be physically active. Urban children are at a greater risk of not being sufficiently active since they reported more physical and organizational barriers than non-urban ones. Different barriers, according to children’s gender and urbanization, should be considered in future strategies to promote physical activity.