{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,2]],"date-time":"2025-07-02T04:24:15Z","timestamp":1751430255889,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Human Kinetics","issue":"7","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic><jats:bold>Background<\/jats:bold>:<\/jats:italic> Physical activity (PA) is a fundamental determinant of health, but governments face challenges promoting it. This holds particularly true for rural areas, which are home to a third of the population in the European Union. This study explores (1) to whom local government officials in extremely rural districts attribute the responsibility for PA promotion and (2) which barriers and facilitators they encounter when attempting to implement PA promotion projects. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Method<\/jats:bold>:<\/jats:italic> We conducted semistructured interviews with 24 officials responsible for PA promotion across 13 districts in the German state of Bavaria. Qualitative content analysis was applied to identify the allocation of responsibilities, as well as facilitators and barriers for rural PA promotion. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Results<\/jats:bold>:<\/jats:italic> Respondents characterized PA promotion in extremely rural areas as a multisectoral endeavor, considering sport clubs as central to program implementation and local governments as key providers of PA-friendly infrastructures. They named policymakers\u2019 awareness for the issue, strong political support for project implementation, and well-established networks with external collaboration partners as important facilitators of PA promotion. Limited human and financial resources, requirements of funding schemes, inadequate infrastructures, and political challenges were identified as main barriers. <jats:italic><jats:bold>Conclusion<\/jats:bold>:<\/jats:italic> Results indicate that rural municipalities in Germany may require specially tailored funding schemes and PA promotion programs to strengthen existing structures, overcome barriers, and support local development. While confirming general findings from previous international research, this study may still provide important specific guidance for policymakers to improve PA program implementation outside of urban population centers in central Europe.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1123\/jpah.2024-0486","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T17:39:10Z","timestamp":1747244350000},"page":"864-872","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Physical Activity Promotion in Extremely Rural Districts: An Analysis of Facilitators and Barriers in 13 Rural Districts of Bavaria"],"prefix":"10.1123","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9915-7512","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Maike","family":"Till","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit\u00e4t Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, Erlangen, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8686-7013","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Karim","family":"Abu-Omar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit\u00e4t Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, Erlangen, Germany"}]},{"given":"Sarah","family":"Klein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sport Science and Sport, Friedrich-Alexander-Universit\u00e4t Erlangen-N\u00fcrnberg, Erlangen, Germany"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1163-6210","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anna","family":"Chalkley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom"},{"name":"Center for Applied Education Research, Wolfson Center for Applied Health Research, Bradford Royal Infirmary, Bradford, United Kingdom"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3262-4980","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Adriana Isabel","family":"Pinedo Carrillo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WHO European Office for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD Office), Copenhagen, Denmark"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3652-0708","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stephen","family":"Whiting","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WHO European Office for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCD Office), Copenhagen, Denmark"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3806-438X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Romeu","family":"Mendes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Special Initiative on Noncommunicable Diseases and Innovation, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark"},{"name":"Public Health Unit, Tr\u00e1s-os-Montes e Alto Douro Local Health Unit, Vila Real, Portugal"},{"name":"EPIUnit \u2013 Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4120-4996","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Peter","family":"Gelius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Sport Sciences, Universit\u00e9 de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland"}]}],"member":"100","reference":[{"year":"2021","series-title":"A Long-Term Vision for the EU\u2019s Rural Areas\u2014Towards Stronger, Connected, Resilient and Prosperous Rural Areas by 2040","key":"r1","unstructured":"European Commission. 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