Effect of physical activity on mental wellbeing among teachers of secondary school in Almadina city, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Physical activity has many beneficial effects on mental health. Benefit of physical activity appears proportional to the amount of activity rather than the intensity of physical activity. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of physical activity on mental wellbeing of teachers of secondary school in Almadina city- 2019. A descriptive cross sectional study was applied among a representative multi-stage random sample of secondary school teachers in Almadina. Two validated questionnaires, in addition to personal data were utilized to collect data; Short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) version 2.0 to evaluate physical activity and the Warwick-Edinburg Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) to assess mental wellbeing both in Arabic language. The study included 230 teachers. Their age ranged between 27 and 59 years with a mean ± (SD) of 39.4 (±7.6) years. Almost half of them were males (50.4%). Most of the teachers were either overweight (30%) or obese (40.9%). Almost half of teachers (48.3%) reported moderate level of physical activity whereas only 9.1% reported high level. Low level of physical activity was mentioned by 42.6% of the respondents. There was no significant difference between male and female teachers regarding physical activity level. The association between level of physical activity and body mass index was statistically significant, <i>P</i> < 0.001. Majority of the teachers expressed high mental wellbeing level while only 3.5% of them had low level of mental wellbeing. High level of mental well-being was observed among 95.6% of females compared to 85.3% of males, <i>P</i> = 0.008. There was a statistically significant positive association between levels of physical activity and mental well-being among teachers (<i>P</i> = 0.002). Level of practicing physical activities among secondary school teachers in Almadina is suboptimal, with no gender difference. Majority of the teachers have high mental well-being, particularly females. There is a positive association between levels of physical activity and mental wellbeing among teachers.