ABSTRACT

Background

: Wisdom holds that healthy and fit citizens ensure more successful national development plans. In its transition to a knowledge-based economy (Vision 2030), Saudi Arabia is depending on women’s contributions and leadership. But Saudi females have historically lacked access to physical education or sports as evident in their compromised health status (44% obesity rate) compared to the national average (35.4%), which is nearly three times as high as the global average (13%).

Purpose

: This study demonstrated the benefit of soliciting health and sports-related academic specialists’ voices to address the paucity of research that could inform policy and curricular decisions around healthy lifestyle, physical education, and sports access for Saudi women.

Method

: This exploratory qualitative study (2020–2021) involved N = 11 semi-structured interviews (purposive sampling) with Saudi faculty members (kinesiology, sports, physical education, and related specializations). The eight, mostly open-ended interview questions were inspired by existing work on international women’s health issues. A thematic analysis revealed participants’ learned insights and opinions about this issue.

Findings

: Four themes emerged. Participants opined that (a) education should be used to improve women’s health, (b) everyone’s lifestyle can be improved through educating women, (c) policymakers must be held accountable for ensuring access to relevant curricula and infrastructure, and (d) gender health equality must be in place to ensure women’s healthy lifestyles.

Conclusion

: Exploratory research is beneficial when little is known about a phenomenon. It helps researchers better clarify the nature of the problem, and findings often serve as groundwork for future studies. Participants supported physical education curricula and a fitness infrastructure for Saudi women. A focus on healthy lifestyles through physical education classes and sports engagement via related infrastructure is strongly recommended as an important action for Saudi policymakers. This would help create a cultural imperative of healthy citizens for national development especially through women’s health and physical fitness.

中文翻译：

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沙特女性的健康生活方式、体育教育和运动

摘要

背景

: Wisdom 认为，健康和健康的公民可以确保国家发展计划更加成功。在向知识型经济转型（2030 年愿景）的过程中，沙特阿拉伯依赖于女性的贡献和领导力。但沙特女性历来缺乏接受体育教育或运动的机会，其健康状况不佳（肥胖率 44%）与全国平均水平（35.4%）相比，是全球平均水平（13%）的近三倍。 .

目的

：这项研究证明了征求健康和体育相关学术专家的意见的好处，以解决可以为沙特女性健康生活方式、体育教育和体育参与的政策和课程决策提供信息的研究匮乏问题。

方法

：这项探索性定性研究（2020-2021 年）涉及对沙特教职员工（运动学、体育、体育和相关专业）的N  = 11 次半结构化访谈（目的抽样）。八个大部分是开放式的面试问题的灵感来自于国际妇女健康问题的现有工作。主题分析揭示了参与者对这个问题的了解和看法。

发现

: 出现了四个主题。与会者认为，(a) 教育应用于改善女性健康，(b) 可以通过教育女性来改善每个人的生活方式，(c) 决策者必须对确保获得相关课程和基础设施负责，以及 (d) 性别健康必须实现平等，以确保妇女的健康生活方式。

结论

：当对某种现象知之甚少时，探索性研究是有益的。它可以帮助研究人员更好地阐明问题的性质，并且研究结果通常可以作为未来研究的基础。参与者支持沙特妇女的体育课程和健身基础设施。强烈建议通过体育课程关注健康生活方式，并通过相关基础设施参与体育运动，作为沙特政策制定者的一项重要行动。这将有助于为国家发展创造健康公民的文化要求，特别是通过妇女的健康和身体健康。