title: College students' barriers and enablers for healthful weight management: a qualitative study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify barriers and enablers for healthful weight management among college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen on-line focus groups, homogeneous by sex and university.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight universities in 8 states.
  
  
  METHODS
  College students (N = 115; 55% female; mean age 19.7 +/- 1.6).
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative software, Nvivo version 2 (QSR International, Victoria, Australia, 2002), was used; similar codes were grouped together and categorized using an ecological model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Males and females cited the same barriers to weight management: intrapersonal (eg, temptation and lack of discipline); interpersonal (social situations); and environmental (eg, time constraints, ready access to unhealthful food). Similar enablers were identified by sex: intrapersonal (eg, regulating food intake, being physically active); interpersonal (social support); and environmental (eg, university's environment supports physical activity). More barriers than enablers were given, indicating that these college students were more sensitive to barriers than the enablers for weight management. Factors viewed by some students as barriers to weight management were viewed as enablers by others.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When designing weight management interventions for college students, sex specificity may not be as important as considering that a barrier for one student may be an enabler for another. From an ecological perspective, individually focused interventions must be implemented in conjunction with environmental-level interventions to facilitate behavior change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA. mgreaney@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Mary L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Greaney
authors.forename: Faith D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Less
authors.forename: Adrienne A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Sarah F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Dayton
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Riebe
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blissmer
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shoff
authors.forename: Jennifer R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Geoffrey W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Greene
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D004777:Environment; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005638:Fruit; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D014675:Vegetables; D015430:Weight Gain; D055815:Young Adult