Introduction:

Promoting physical activity among the Mexican population is important because of its relationship with chronic degenerative diseases, which are the leading cause of death in Mexico. Program managers and directors are the ones who make decisions about policies and programs related to physical activity in the country.

Objective:

To analyze health programs in Mexico that include physical activity (PA) and the barriers and benefits of incorporating Physical Activity Professionals (PAP) in primary healthcare services.

Materials and methods:

Qualitative study was conducted in 2019, based on semi-structured interviews with Morelos Health Services (MHS) managers and the General Direction of Health Promotion (n = 15), which were analyzed using the framework method.

Results:

Three PA programs have infrastructure and human resources limitations, making it difficult to reach the entire population. The inclusion of PAP in primary health care services would mainly benefit from a reduction of hospitalization costs, with the main barrier being the lack of budget.

Conclusion:

These results are limited to the MHS. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the situation of PA programs in the health services of other states.