Exercise Habits, Motives, and Barriers of Mothers from the Jewish State Religious Sector

The purpose of the current study was to explore the exercise habits, motives, and barriers of mothers from the Jewish state religious sector and to examine whether the number of children is related to these variables.

Participants were 356 mothers from the Jewish state religious sector, aged 20-45 (M = 35; S.D = 6.07), 64% with more than four children. A questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the participants` physical activity habits, motives for physical activity, and barriers. Results indicated a positive relationship between the number of children and physical activity. That is to say, as the number of children increased, the number of weekly activities increased. In addition, a positive relationship appeared between maternal age and number of children and between maternal age and physical activity. The main barrier for both inactive women and active women who feel that they are less active than they would like to be is a "busy day" of regular household and parenting activities, with no difference between the groups. "I have no power" and "requires too much self-discipline" appeared as stronger barriers among inactive women than among their active counterparts. The main motive for the activity – to "feel better mentally" – was reported among 97.4% of the participants. 79.5% of them take part in at least one weekly physical activity for which they have to pay in order to participate, and 71.5% regularly perform at least one weekly physical activity We conclude that paying for the activity most likely produces a feeling of commitment to be active. In addition, this may lead to incorporating the activity regularly into the individual`s schedule. Encouraging women to be physically active should focus on setting goals, planning and managing time for activities, and fostering feelings of commitment.