Recreation Opportunities for Chinese and Chinese-Canadian Women in UBC Undergraduate Studies

The objective of this research project is to explore the recreation opportunities for Chinese and Chinese-Candian women undergraduate students at UBC Vancouver and to further understand the underlying factors that contribute to their physical activity participation rates. A large proportion of UBC’s undergraduate student population is composed of both domestic and international Chinese and Chinese-Canadian women (University of British Columbia, 2012). The literature has identified several barriers that limit physical activity participation among Asian and Chinese female students enrolled in university, related to culture (Suminski, Petosa, Utter, & Zhang, 2002), lack of comprehensive physical education in Chinese schools (Liang, Housner, Walls, & Yan, 2012), and both academic and social pressure (Cheung & Chow, 2010; and Yan & Cardinal, 2013). Low rates of physical activity are linked to various negative health outcomes (Racette, Deusinger, Strube, Highstein, & Deusinger, 2005; and Conklin & Lambert, 2005), which makes this research vital for this demographic. Chinese and Chinese-Canadian women undergraduate students were identified as a target population by UBC Recreation for this study. Chinese and Chinese-Candian women undergraduate students at UBC Vancouver were invited to complete a survey that explored both their previous and current participation rates, demographics, perceptions of UBC Recreation, as well as barriers and motivators experienced when participating in physical activity. The survey was distributed through multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, lectures, the UBC Kinesiology research website, and directly to other undergraduate students. The survey had 47 complete responses, with the majority of respondents being between the ages 21 to 23, in year level four, and domestic UBC students. Various descriptive statistical measures were employed including measures of frequency, measures of central tendency, and measures of dispersion for data analysis. The findings revealed that almost three quarters of participants were not meeting Candian Physical Activity Guidelines, which refers to engaging in 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) each week (CSEP, n.d.). Before attending UBC, 46.8% of students were meeting these guidelines, and currently only 27.7% are meeting these guidelines. 66.0% stated that UBC had a negative impact on their MVPA levels. The themes drawn from the statistical analysis provide further insight on the experiences of Chinese and Chinese-Candian undergraduate students when seeking physical activity opportunities on and off campus. Furthermore, themes from survey responses allow for recommendations to be made on how to address these experiences shared in the survey. Three recommendations were made to UBC Recreation to provide suggestions on how they can improve participation rates from Chinese and Chinese-Candian women at UBC. The first recommendation is to provide off-campus resources to students as 44.7% of surveyed students currently use off campus fitness gyms and studios. The second recommendation is to create more online resources for students to help them feel more confident creating exercise routines and using exercise equipment. Finally, it is recommended that UBC Recreation creates a Student Recreation Ambassador position to provide assistance and guidance to students in UBC Recreation facilities and ultimately improve health literacy. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Education, Faculty ofKinesiology, School ofUnreviewedUndergraduat