Table 3 Shared and unique perceived barriers and facilitators for extracurricular physical activity in Cuernavaca, Ciudad Del Carmen and Toluca

Shared

Unique

Per respondent

Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche

Cuernavaca, Morelos

Toluca, Mexico

Children

Parents

Teachers

-Lack of time

-Cost

-COVID-19 lockdown-related changes leading to unavailability of opportunities.

-Low parental support for enrolling or taking children to sports or recreational facilities.

-Lack or limited availability of physical activity facilities.

-Long distances to available physical activity facilities.

-Lack of after-school programs or their suspension due to the COVID-19 lockdown.

-Lack of social support

-Seasonal weather (extreme heat)

-Low safety perception

-Low safety perception

-Seasonal weather (floods)

-Poor road pavement conditions

-Child labour and house chores

-Long commutes

-Perception that their physical activity is mostly unstructured

-Not having someone to play with

-Adults’ lack of time to take them to parks or sports facilities.

-Spare time spent on household chores

-Describe physical activity in relation to ongoing participation in structured physical activity

-Lack of money to enrol their children to leisure or sport activities.

-Lack of time to take their children to leisure or sport activities.

-Lack of low cost or free programmes and facilities for physical activity and sports.

-Low safety perception preventing them from spending time in parks or other outdoor facilities.

-Children´s preference for screen-based recreational activities.

-Children spend their discretionary time working or supporting their parents with households, farming, or commerce.

-Lack of extracurricular programs and those available were suspended due to COVID-19 lockdown.

-Perception that parents cannot pay fees for sports clubs or other extracurricular physical activity.

-Lack of adequate physical space and time to run school physical activity programmes.

-It is not possible to run extracurricular activities at double-shift schools.

Facillitators

-Having social support

-Active transportation

- Built environment support for active transport (e.g., cycling paths).

-Teacher’s support.

-Preference for sports.

-Local physical activity programs.

-Parents awareness of the importance of physical activity.

-Good weather.

-Teachers encourage active transportation and other physical activities outside of school hours.

Good safety perception

Having friends or family to play with

-Physical activity and sports are perceived as important and good for health.

-Intention to enrol their children to sports clubs

-Physical education teachers run sports tournaments

-Generalist teachers leave active “homework”.