Food & Health Alliance

Report that evaluated a project to increase physical activity levels in inactive adolescent females in London.  The report identifies reasons why females do not exercise (such as practicalities getting the way and lasting negative school P.E. experiences). 

Method:  The project provided 2,000 inactive young women (aged 16 to 24 years old) with free gym membership. The project also provided mentoring in group sessions and support through the project website in order to develop a supportive and nurturing environment to exercise in. 

The project overcame physical barriers such as affordability.  The project also generated an aspirational brand for young women to identify with and provided excellent customer care.  

Participants completed an on-line questionnaire before and after the programme, this focused on self-confidence, body image and views on exercise.  On-line diaries were also kept throughout the programme in order to gauge physical activity levels and morale. Six months after the programme participants were asked to complete a final on-line questionnaire to record their current activity levels. 

Focus groups were also completed in order to assess some specific psychosocial questions.  Service providers were also asked their opinion on the quality of the delivery of the programme. 

Findings: The top reasons for joining the project were: wanting to lose weight, wanting to try new things and wanting to lead a healthier lifestyle.  88% of participants agreed that the project reminded them how much they enjoyed taking part in physical activity. 

Six months after the project 72% of the participants were more active than they had been before the project.  Self-consciousness when exercising decreased through participation in the project, improvements in body image responses were also noted.  Being active in the gym generalised to activity in their everyday lives, e.g. walking from school or work, and taking up new sports, e.g. tennis.  

Participants also reported willingness to try out new forms of exercise.   The research also indicated a number of key factors that could help to improve females’ gym experiences, such as: setting achievable fitness goals, generating a friendly atmosphere and gyms running women only sessions.

Implications: The project provided excellent information on what young women wish to gain from physical activity and reasons for non-participation.  This study indicated that if physical activity was designed and delivered correctly females would take part. 

The project provided unique market insight, guidance for policy makers and pointers for project delivery.   The importance of providing traditional and virtual support was emphasised in this study.  Customer service at leisure facilities is very important to encourage females to return to exercise.