Young Thai adults’ views and experiences of physical activity throughout their lifespan. : - A qualitative interview study on young adults in Thailand.

Sammanfattning: Abstract Background: Insufficient physical activity has become a health problem worldwide and is closely connected to the development of various diseases such as Non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This has become a national problem in Thailand as well, and during the last decade, the government have launched various campaigns in attempt to increase the physical activity level of the population. Studies around the world have shown a positive correlation between physical activity (PA) and the prevention and treatment of diseases. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge about young Thai adults’ points of view and experiences of PA during their lifespan. Method: The study was a qualitative interview study based on five semi-structured interviews. The participants were young Thai adults studying or working at a computer-oriented college. When recruiting participants, both purpose and convenience sampling methods were used. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the collected data. Results: Five categories and twelve subcategories were identified during the analysis process. The five categories represented the broad focus areas and aspects of the participants’ views and experiences of PA. Conclusion: The participants had significant variations in both views and experiences regarding PA. The participants had a positive attitude towards PA due to different health outcomes. However, a lack of fundamental theoretical knowledge from their schoolyear’s regarding PA was identified. Further research is therefore needed to deeper investigate the knowledge gap and possible underlying causes.   Keywords: physical activity, non-communicable diseases, Thailand, experiences, views, physiotherapy