Saudi female school teachers’ knowledge and opinion related to physical exercise for school children

Abstract

The study explores possible barriers behind physical inactivity in female students. The method of the research is cross-sectional quantitative study. The findings based on assessing female teachers’ level of knowledge about physical exercise for girls through distributing a questionnaire to female teachers of Al-Abna’a Schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The results show that the majority of the participants believe that physical exercise is important for children and girls should attend physical exercise classes in school. However, teachers’ levels of knowledge regarding physical exercise recommendation for children are low. Some of the barriers of regular physical exercise in children are lack of social and parental support, children’s low interest in physical exercise, and lack of sports facilities suitable for young girls.