Abstract

Introduction and Objective: The lower physical activity levels in Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups as compared
with general population in the United Kingdom (UK) could relate to barriers to engaging these groups in physical
activity. Hence, the aim to conduct a review to examine UK primary studies reporting barriers to engaging BME groups
in physical activity. Method: This is a narrative review of literature from 1970 to 2008. The search looked for English
literature from five bibliographic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsyINFO, Ethnicity and Health). Broad
search terms ‘physical activity and minority’ were used and views from BME groups were considered in this review.
Results & Conclusion: The search yielded 391 studies and 18 were finally included in the review. Our review identified
20 barriers clustered among four broad themes of: (a) perceived personal barriers; (b) socio-economic barriers; (c)
cultural barriers; and (d) environmental barriers. Overcoming these barriers in these broad areas is important in
development of sensitive multicultural health promotion addressing physical inequalities.

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