Level of physical activity among teaching and support staff in the education sector in Dohuk, Iraq

Abstract

Sedentary lifestyle is a major underlying cause of death, disease, and disability worldwide. This survey in 2006 aimed to estimate the current level of physical activity among 293 school and university teaching staff and 246 support staff working in the education sector in Dohuk city, Iraq. The short form of the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ) was used to estimate physical activity. Using the higher IPAQ cutoff point (i.e. high, not moderate, level of activity) the prevalence of physical activity beneficial to health among all participants was 39.5%. Small but nonsignificant differences in physical activity were found among sex, age and BMI categories. Teachers reported significantly higher physical activity levels than support staff, and individuals with longer average sitting times per day reported significantly lower levels of physical activity. . La version courte du questionnaire international sur l'activité physique a été utilisée pour mesurer cet élément. En utilisant la valeur seuil la plus élevée du questionnaire, (c'est-à-dire une activité physique intense et non modérée), la prévalence d'une activité physique bénéfique pour la santé a été estimée à 39,5 % pour tous les participants. Des différences minimes non significatives ont été retrouvées en fonction du sexe, de l'âge et de l'indice de masse corporelle. Les enseignants ont déclaré des niveaux d'activité physiques supérieurs à ceux du personnel administratif et les individus passant en moyenne le plus de temps en position assise par jour ont déclaré avoir des niveaux d'activité physique nettement plus faibles.

An exploration of physical activity and wellbeing in university employees

“…Despite this discrepancy, the number of participants meeting the recommended PA guidelines, measured by either tool, is not dissimilar to recent population findings of 62%, 8 and to some previous research on university staff using the iPAQ. 27 it is, however, considerably different to the 42% reported in a recent study on active travel in an Australian university. 26 However, the majority of their sample was students, which may account for the differences; work currently underway by our research team exploring PA and wellbeing in university students will confirm or refute this theory.…”

“…Our finding that support staff were more active than academic staff is interesting, as it is in contrast to previous research. 27 This may be due to cultural or employment differences, as Agha and Al-Dabbagh 27 surveyed not only university staff, but staff from primary and secondary schools. it is possible that in our sample, the support staff who responded were those employed in active roles where they would meet the PA guidelines during their working day.…”

“…Of the research to date on university employees, some has focussed on nutrition, 24,25 but the majority has focussed on PA. rissel et al, 26 in a survey of active travel in staff and students at Sydney University, reported that only 41% were sufficiently active according to PA guidelines. Agha and Al-Dabbagh, 27 in a survey of school, college and university staff in iraq, found that support staff were less active than teaching staff, and those with the greatest sitting times were the least physically active overall. walking is the most common workplace programme to have been evaluated within universities, and it has been found to be effective at increasing PA, particularly in those who are least active at baseline.…”

Sedentary behaviour and physical activity levels in employees of Khyber Medical University Peshawar

“…In age groups 18-29 years, 42.3% were more active than in 30-44 years (37%) and 45-64 years 37.8% in high physical activity although there was no significant difference. 19 According to the study conducted on the office employees of Albania, the average time spent in sedentary lifestyle was about 10.2 hours per day, same in all groups, which is higher than the findings of this study. In 60% of the employees, low physical activity was noted, which is contrary to the findings of our study.…”

Physical Activities among Diabetic Patients Attending Diabetic Centers in Kurdistan Region, Iraq

“…There was a highly significant relationship between BMI with the presence other chronic diseases (P-value =0.002) and presence of hypertension (Pvalue =0.001). Table 7 shows the relationships between duration of diagnoses of Physical inactivity could be a global health problem as most studies focused and discussed leisure time physical activity, while physical activity at work, domestic and amid transport has not been assessed [15]. Physical activity in adults with type 2 diabetes significantly increases by interventions of their behavioral [16].…”