Six major themes emerged in the data: gender; religion; ageing and family illness; schooling; the media, and the neighbourhood as barriers to and/or motivators for physical activity (table 3). Here, we summarise these themes with illustrative quotes, highlighting generational where these emerged.
Table 3 Emergent themes with illustrative quotes
Theme
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Sub theme
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Illustrative quote
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Gender
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Ways of socialising
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Yeah, it’s not just exercise, it’s stuff like, you know, playing football 'cos there’s so many similar guys who have got similar ages in Manchester so that’s how they socialise, they just play football in the park. Whereas with girls it’s not like there’s an easy way to play a sport together (Participant 1, Second-generation, Trainee solicitor).
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Physical appearance
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When I used to go to the gym quite a lot last year we used to go to like the weights because obviously not a lot of women do, but it’s actually the quickest way to lose weight in fact, so we used to go and we just used to get stared at…it just wasn’t a nice experience, so like you always had to go somewhere else and maybe not do weights when other people are there. (Participant 2, second-generation, age 22, Medical student)
I think ladies over here ... English born-brought up, they are quite into it ... I’m talking about British – they are quite active... totally into exercising, but then their culture is totally different. …. They come back home and again go for a run – [exclaims] aii – we don’t do all those things, we don’t make that effort to maintain ourselves. I think they have activity in the culture because they want to look good in pubs and they have all this culture isn’t it? Going for holidays to Spain, they have to look glamorous. We’re not bothered, we don’t bother about our looks – once we get married, I don’t think so anybody is bothered about our looks. And they say that openly as well. Abhi kya karna abhi? [What do you need to do now?] So you think this is not important, and anyway if I maintain myself there’s no point. It’s my husband who will be looking at me, so it’s ok [laughs] (Participant 9, First-generation, Software consultant).
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Time for oneself
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I used to go there a few years ago and then stopped for a while, and then started back again [because] I think it’s more doing something for myself, having time for myself to do something, because I don’t really do anything out on a regular basis. Like my husband goes to the gym, my kids go to the gym but I don’t do anything so that was just something for me... It gets me out with my friends as well, and I think we all enjoy it. Because we all go together, we all car-share, it’s just fun (Participant 14, Second-generation, Bank clerk).
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Safety concerns
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... I do more walking here [at university] 'cos when I was at home, and because you’re younger, then ... my parents would never really send me out to walk anywhere really. When I was in year 7, or year 6 age, I did Brownies and ... the place I did it was only like a 10 minute walk away, but they’d never feel comfortable sending me out by myself, so they’d drive me everywhere really (Participant 3, Second-generation, Medical student).
Compared to my male cousins, when I was growing up – there are like one or two who are older than me – I think they were allowed to like, go on the road and ride the bike and stuff like that, but we weren’t allowed to go and I knew that was because I was a girl so I think, but I didn’t stop me from – I don’t know how to describe it but I didn’t feel it was a bad thing that they were not letting us go cos I just thought like because they wanted me to be safe. (Participant 1, second-generation, Trainee solicitor)
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Domestic activity and family priorities
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“[In the]…morning when my daughter would [wakes up], even having a baby just now – very young baby – first thing she’ll ask me, ‘mummy is it ok if I go on the treadmill?’ At the time when I would be doing my exercise when I say exercise – the work in the kitchen – getting the dough ready which my muscles are working making the dough while her priority is, 'every day I have to go on treadmill'…” (Participant 24, First-generation, Doctor)
I think our generation – I think we still worry about it less, I think, I think for us because we don’t really think about maybe the extended family, it’s only just [us] and our husband and then our children. We don’t have to take care of all the others, and then usually our husbands are quite independent as well, so I think we haven’t got that burden on us that much, so we can focus on us. (Participant 20, second-generation, Works in family business)
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Religion
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– Islam would say go to a ladies’ gym. You can go to the gym, there’s no harm in it, but go to the ladies’ gym. Islam doesn’t like it when you mix with other men – do you get it? (Participant 19, Second-generation, Teaching assistant).
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Ageing and Illness
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… with my dad being on the borderline [of diabetes] and then because you know that it’s got like genetic links and I know that my dad’s dad didn’t have that, but all of my dad’s mums side, like they all had it, or if it wasn’t diabetes then they had a heart attack, so it’s all like, you don’t want to get things like that (Participant 4, Second-generation, Medical student).
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Schooling
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Physical education (PE) lessons
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I think like, we’ve like learnt from school recently, like everyone was pushed to exercise and like the Olympics and everything – the health benefits, but I don’t know if she thinks it’s that important. I think we’ve learnt through school and stuff – we’ve been told how important exercise is and to have an active lifestyle is good for your health, but I don’t know if she’s had – I don’t think she realises that it’s probably good for her to do more exercise (Participant 7, Second-generation, Mathematics student).
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Education as a barrier to physical activity in adolescence
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… You’re going to get more in life by studying than going to the gym or playing sports, so (laughs). That’s the way it was when I was growing up to be honest (Participant 6, Second-generation, Dentist).
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The media
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My dad watches Indian channels, which is where I could see it, but as I say, those channels come from India and they don’t really push health as much as we do here. It never really comes up, like the people on the screen will be thin but it’s not pushed. Like if you pick up a magazine here it’s like, lose this many pounds in a week (Participant 4, Second-generation, Medical student).
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The neighbourhood
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Local facilities for physical activity
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PB: Why don’t you go to the park?
When children were young that time I used to go play with children, they liked to go park, very young children, that time I used to go there. That place swinging and just running round with the park, everything, they like. When they were young children I used to go, but now I don’t go park. (Participant 12, First-generation, Supermarket General Assistant).
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Gender
The impact of being female on physical activity as both a barrier to and a motivator was a central theme across the interviews, even where it was not explicitly discussed.
Ways of socialising
Many of the women observed that most boys socialise through sport, also noting that this was not specific to Indian people:
“…there’s so many similar guys who have got similar ages in Manchester so that’s how they socialise, they just play football in the park. Whereas with girls it’s not like there’s an easy way to play a sport together" (Participant 1, Second-generation).
Physical appearance
Almost all second-generation women felt motivated to take some form of exercise by pressure to look attractive or feminine. The majority of second-generation women said they did physical activity to maintain or lose weight, while some also discussed pressures to look ‘good’ during physical activity in the form of people's comments on their appearance while exercising; having friends who were put off cycling because of anxieties about how they might look or mess up their hair, and feeling uncomfortably on display in the weights-area of a gym:
“we just used to get stared at…it just wasn’t a nice experience" (Participant 2, Second-generation).
Time for oneself
Second-generation women spoke about exercising a means of taking time out to do something for themselves. For instance, one participant described attending yoga classes.
“…my husband goes to the gym, my kids go to the gym but I don’t do anything so that was just something for me" (Participant 14, Second-generation, Bank clerk).
Safety concerns
Some second-generation women reported that their own outside play and active travel in childhood had been restricted by their parents' concerns for girls' safety: “…they’d never feel comfortable sending me out by myself, so they’d drive me everywhere really” (Participant 3, Second-generation, Medical student). First-generation women who had been raised in India articulated the same concerns and consequent restrictions on outside play and active travel in childhood.
Domestic activity and family priorities
Most participants noted that girls in Indian families are expected to do more housework than boys, and that they themselves, as children, had done more housework than their brothers. The generations differed, however, regarding expectations of the wife and mother to look after the family. First-generation women described being encouraged as children by their parents to do the housework, because they would be expected to maintain the household when they married, and spoke about prioritising family care and cooking above all other activities except housework.
For the second-generation, family responsibility was less of a concern, especially for women in the 20 to 24 age group who did not have children. Among women who had children, or were married, the second-generation were more likely to prioritise their physical activity:
“we haven’t got that burden on us that much, so we can focus on us” (Participant 20, second-generation, Works in family business).
Religion
Second-generation Hindus, Sikhs and Jains generally did not believe their religion influenced their decisions about exercise, with some exceptions. Hindu women who said their religion does influence their exercise cited yoga and ‘mental exercises’, but were unclear about the precise role of yoga in Hinduism. Some women discussed the role of religious clubs in encouraging physical activity, rather than the religion itself.
Muslim women cited the Koran, saying that its health messages were similar to the health messages they have heard in other media sources, commenting also that Islam influences how women exercise by prescribing modesty and non-mixing with men.
The first-generation had mixed views about whether religion influenced physical activity. Many women said their religion did not influence their activity, but our sample did not include any first-generation Muslim women. Of those who said their religion did influence physical activity, it was always either through yoga for Hindus, or through activities arranged by religious organisations.
Ageing and Illness
The first-generation almost exclusively spoke of the need to exercise as one ages. While the majority of the younger second-generation participants were motivated to exercise for their appearance, some reported that they had also become motivated to exercise for health reasons after their parents developed health problems such as borderline diabetes and heart attacks:
“… with my dad being on the borderline [of diabetes] …so it’s all like, you don’t want to get things like that" (Participant 4, Second-generation, Medical student).
Schooling
Physical education (PE) lessons
Participants who had completed all or at least part of their schooling in the UK described positive experiences of doing sports and PE in school. Women said that although they were not encouraged to exercise at home, this was sometimes because their parents believed that their daughter was getting exercise through school PE. Many second-generation women discussed the positive impact of PE at school in teaching them about the importance of physical activity. This was true even of women who described themselves as ‘not sporty’ or not in the school sports teams:
“I think we’ve learnt through school and stuff – we’ve been told how important exercise is and to have an active lifestyle is good for your health” (Participant 7, Second-generation, Mathematics student).
No first-generation participant reported that their school had directly addressed this issue, even if they had done sports at school.
Education as a barrier to physical activity in adolescence
Some second-generation women received more parental encouragement to study than to be active once they were in adolescence:
“… You’re going to get more in life by studying than going to the gym or playing sports, so (laughs). That’s the way it was when I was growing up to be honest” (Participant 6, Second-generation, Dentist).
The media
Second-generation women reported that mainstream English-language media (television, films, magazines and the news) provide a general message that activity is important, though this is usually about weight and looks, rather than physical activity for health.
The majority of first-generation participants watched Asian television channels almost exclusively, and described these channels as having no physical activity message, with the exception of yoga. The second-generation reinforced these observations this when talking about their parents:
“My dad watches Indian channels, which is where I could see it, but as I say, those channels come from India and they don’t really push health as much as we do here.” (Participant 4, Second-generation, Medical student).
The neighbourhood
Local facilities for physical activity
Both generations were aware of local facilities in their area, such as parks and leisure centres. Some second-generation women described using local parks to socialise in, or to run in. By contrast, almost all of the first-generation women described parks as being for children, and said they would only go there with children:
“When they were young children I used to go, but now I don’t go park.” (Participant 12, First-generation, Supermarket General Assistant).
Some of the second-generation also described only going to parks with children, but this attitude was not universal.