Singaporeans on why they skip exercise: No time, too tired, pollution

There are plenty of things that keep people from working out, and in Singapore, the top three reasons are lack of time, fatigue, and pollution, as reported in a study.

In a survey involving 2,867 Singaporeans or permanent residents, 65.3 percent said they simply had no time to exercise, 64.7 percent stated they were fatigued, and 56.1 percent responded that the air quality was bad. [BMC Public Health 2022;22:1051]

There were no significant barriers found for work-related physical activity. However, the level of transport-related physical activity was associated with the availability of footpaths and cycle lanes or parks, cost, and safety concerns. Furthermore, pollution lowered the odds of engaging in physical activity in the transport domain only (ie, walking or biking).

Overall, sedentary behaviour was associated with work, limited accessibility to exercise facilities, and safety concerns.

“Lack of time and fatigue as barriers to physical activity were also prevalent in several studies. In a [previous] study … on park use for physical activity in Singapore, the top three reasons for not visiting parks were being too busy with their work or studies, being too tired or choosing to stay at home, and being concerned about the weather,” the investigators said. [PLoS ONE 2019;14:1-24]

“However, pollution may be a seasonal barrier that was overestimated in the survey. Singapore experiences haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia. It is a seasonal problem between July and October when the monsoonal winds tend to blow the smoke to Singapore,” they added.

In September 2019, Singapore’s air quality reached exceptionally unhealthy levels for 11 days due to the said haze. This event, according to the investigators, might have affected the respondents’ daily activities at the time and consequently overstated the prevalence of pollution. [tinyurl.com/2ase364t; tinyurl.com/yxc49dkb; https://www.singstat.gov.sg/publications/reference/ebook/society/climate-and-air-quality]

No more excuses

The investigators believed that motivating people to exercise can help to overcome internal barriers (eg, lack of time, age, cost, fatigue) to physical activity. This has been demonstrated in previous Singapore-based studies that individuals can be motivated by providing social support and emphasizing the benefits of exercise, as well as describing the cost of physical inactivity. [BMC Public Health 2021;21:1-14; PLoS ONE 2019;14:1-24]

Meanwhile, external barriers to physical activity (eg, weather and lack of footpaths, cycle lanes or parks) can be tackled with educating people about the existing infrastructure that allows them to exercise in the shade and travel by walking or biking, the investigators said. [PloS ONE 2019;14:1-24]

Finally, “sedentary behaviour may be improved by implementing workplace interventions at a population level. Local studies have proposed possible interventions, such as creating awareness of sedentary behaviour at work and changing the workplace environment, to reduce the amount of time spent sitting at work,” they pointed out. [Heal Educ Behav 2020;47:419-29; BMC Public Health 2016;16:360].

The Investigators called for further studies to examine whether implementation of the proposed strategies can effectively and cost-efficiently improve physical activity and sedentary behaviour in Singapore.