Updated: Sep 1, 2026
Based on reporting by MedRxiv Clinical Preprints. Research, structure, and fact-checking by Groundwork.
The Impact of Gender on Participation in Physical Activity Programs for Adolescents with HIV Adolescents living with HIV face significant challenges,
Based on reporting by MedRxiv Clinical Preprints. Research, structure, and fact-checking by Groundwork.
Connect your brand with over 50,000 monthly decision-makers seeking research-backed guidance in finance, health, and tech.
Zero Clickbait • 100% Verified Editorial Standards
Adolescents living with HIV face significant challenges, including a high burden of depression and anxiety. In areas where specialist mental health services are scarce, peer-led physical activity programs have been proposed as a low-cost supportive intervention. However, little attention has been given to whether such programs reach girls and boys equally and whether gendered constraints shape who is able to participate.
Girls and young women with perinatally acquired HIV in India are less likely to participate in peer-led physical activity programs and experience a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms.
Adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV in India carry a high burden of depression and anxiety. In areas where specialist mental health services are scarce, peer-led physical activity programs have been proposed as a low-cost supportive intervention. However, little attention has been given to whether such programs reach girls and boys equally and whether gendered constraints shape who is able to participate.
We conducted a cross-sectional convergent mixed-methods study among 150 adolescents and young people with perinatally acquired HIV in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, southern India. The study examined participation in the Positive Running Program, a peer-led structured physical activity intervention delivered around antiretroviral therapy centers. We used logistic regression adjusted for age, with gender-stratified models and an adherence-by-gender interaction term to estimate associations. Four focus group discussions with 28 participants and peer facilitators were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, with themes generated inductively and interpreted through an intersectional lens and through self-determination theory.
Our quantitative findings indicate that girls and young women attended fewer sessions than boys and young men (mean 61.6% versus 65.6%; p=0.025) and were less likely to reach the pre-specified ≥65% adherence threshold (10/50, 20% versus 57/100, 57%; p<0.001). They also had a higher prevalence of a positive depression screen (33/50, 66% versus 43/100, 43%; p=0.009) and of any common mental disorder (36/50, 72% versus 52/100, 52%; p=0.022).
Connect your brand with over 50,000 monthly decision-makers seeking research-backed guidance in finance, health, and tech.
Zero Clickbait • 100% Verified Editorial Standards
Maya Okafor (2026). Unequal Starting Lines: Gendered Barriers to Participation and Outcomes in a Peer-Led Physical Activity Program for Adolescents Living with HIV in India. Groundwork. Retrieved from https://gworky.com/article/gendered-barriers-to-participation-in-peer-led-physical-activity-for-adolescents-with-hiv
Contextual evidence and verified documentation referenced in this research guide
Groundwork enforces a strict, independent verification standard. All claims and benchmark figures in this guide are cross-referenced against the primary documentation and regulatory registries listed below:
Originally published at https://gworky.com/article/gendered-barriers-to-participation-in-peer-led-physical-activity-for-adolescents-with-hiv — Groundwork Evidence-Based Research.
Connect your brand with over 50,000 monthly decision-makers seeking verified guidance in finance, health, and tech.
Find your five training zones from the Karvonen heart rate reserve formula — including the Zone 2 endurance base that drives mitochondrial fitness.
body
body
body
bodyThe key facts, numbers, and action steps are broken down in this article.
Readers researching gendered barriers to participation in peer led physical activity for adolescents with hiv.
Maya Okafor writes about health, wellness, and technology for Groundwork. She focuses on evidence-based guidance readers can act on.
Higher adherence was associated with lower odds of a common mental disorder overall (adjusted odds ratio 0.31, 95% CI 0.13-0.68) and among boys and young men (0.33, 0.14-0.75); among girls and young women, only 10 participants met the adherence threshold and the estimates were imprecise.
Our qualitative findings located the constraints upstream of the program, in household authority over girls' time, restrictions on mobility outside the home, care-giving obligations, and community disapproval of girls exercising in public. The central finding concerns participation rather than benefit: girls and young women were half as numerous among participants and attended less consistently, clustering just below the high-adherence threshold.
The differential opportunity to participate arises where gendered household authority intersects with the constrained autonomy of adolescence and the concealment demanded by HIV status. Interpreted through self-determination theory, the program supported competence and relatedness for those who attended but did little to secure the autonomy girls needed to attend consistently.
The cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, including about the direction of the association between attendance and symptoms.
This analysis is based on the cited source and publicly available research.
Health Data Analyst
Health data analyst who dissects supplement labels, clinical trial sample sizes, and wellness trends. Sarah only signs off on guidance that the evidence supports.
This guide underwent secondary data verification to confirm primary source integrity, calculation formulas, and regulatory compliance before publication.
Connect your brand with over 50,000 monthly decision-makers seeking research-backed guidance in finance, health, and tech.
Zero Clickbait • 100% Verified Editorial Standards
Bacterial vaccines can significantly reduce antibiotic resistance by limiting bacterial transmission and colonization, but their impact depends on the vaccine
A gut microbial health index (GMHI) has been proposed as a composite biomarker for evaluating overall health, with potential applications in disease prevention
Youth type 2 diabetes cases in Colorado have risen nearly 10-fold since 2002, highlighting the need for increased awareness and action to prevent this growing