ABSTRACT
Background: The relationship between physical activity andbetter quality of life, and association between inactivity andvarious non-communicable diseases are well documented.The objective of present study was to describe pattern ofphysical activity in women attending primary health carecenters in Jeddah, and to evaluate the impact of utilizing socialmedia to encourage Physical Education in inactive women.Materials and Methods: Through a cross section studydesign, 310 attendants of the primary health care centers inJeddah were selected randomly to assess the pattern ofPhysical Education by using Global Physical ActivityQuestionnaire (GPAQ) version 2.0. Out of the detected inactivewomen, 35 were subjected to an intervention using socialmedia to encourage physical activity; the impact of interventionwas done using pre-post analysis.Results: Only 13(10.3%) of the respondents reported that theyexert vigorous activity at work, and a greater percentage167(55.5%) exerting moderate activity. Only one quarter of therespondents 73(24.3%) pointed 8 that they perform vigorousactivity in recreation and leisure time with average METs of(median, IQR: 1440: 960-2640). The overall energyexpenditure of active respondents accounted for and averageMETs of (median, IQR: 2640: 1440-5760). The number ofrespondents who had been categorized as being inactivewas 90 corresponding to 29.9% of the respondents. Afterintervention, 17(48.6%) of the originally inactive womenbecame active with a statistically significant increase inaverage METs which reached up to (median, IQR: 3100: 1380-5300) p< 0.05.Conclusion: The prevalence of inactivity of women isconsiderably high and accord similar studies in other settings,our trial in its current form using social media is effective inencouraging physical activity in physically inactive women.