Table 5 Prevalence of physical inactivity among children/adolescents using data from journal articles
From: Physical inactivity, gender and culture in Arab countries: a systematic assessment of the literature
Country | First author, year | Source | Definition | Questionnaire used | Prevalence (%) | Age range | Sample size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National samples | |||||||
 Bahrain | Musaiger, 2014 (2006–2007) | NA | <5days/week of playing sport | NA | 72.1 | 15-18 | 735 |
 Egypt | Salazar-Martinez, 2006 (1997) | NA | Not engaged in sports | NA | 62.3 | 11-19 | 1502 |
 KSA | AlBuhairan, 2015 (NA) | NA | Complete absence of exercise | YRBSS and the GSHS Questionnairesa | 45.2 | Mean: 15.8 | 12575 |
 Oman | Afifi, 2006 (2004) | NA | Engaging in physical activities <once per week, apart from school physical education | 27-item Child Depression Inventory | 66.3 | 14-20 | 5409 |
 Palestine | Al Sabbah, 2007 (2003–2004) | Health Behavior in School-aged Children Survey | < 60 minutes/day, <5/7 days per week | WHO international HBSC questionnaire | 80.0 | 12-18 | 8885 |
 Tunisia | Nouira, 2014 (2009-2010) | NA | NA | Oxford Health Alliance for community intervention for health | 88.1 | 12-14 | 3987 |
Aounallah-Skhiri, 2012 2005 | NA | < 3 Mets | Locally validated questionnaire | 29.4 | 15-19 | 2870 | |
Subnational sampleb | |||||||
 Algeria | Abbes, 2016 (2010-2011) | NA | Not engaged in sports | NA | 92.8 | 6-11 | 293 |
 Egypt | Shady, 2015 (NS) | NA | < 4 hours/week | NA | 65.5 | 9-11 | 200 |
 Jordan | Haddad, 2009 (NA) | NA | Not very physically nor moderately active | modified Adolescent Wellness Appraisal (AWA) | 4.0 | 12-17 | 530 |
 KSA | Al-Hazzaa, 2011 (2009-2010) | Arab Teens Lifestyle Study | <1680 METs-min/week | ATLS | 61.9 | 15-19 | 2908 |
Al-Muhaimeed, 2015 (2012) | NA | Not engaging in sports | NA | 27.3 | 6-10 | 601 | |
Al-Mutairi, 2015 (2013) | NA | No regular exercise | NA | 31.9 | 15-22 | 426 | |
Al-Othman, 2012 (2010) | NA | NAc | NA | 15.7 | 6-17 | 331 | |
Mahfouz, 2011 (2008) | NA | Less than 30 mins of physical exercise during the previous week | CDC Adolescent Health Survey Questionnaire | 34.3 | 11-19 | 1869 | |
 Kuwait | Shehab, 2005 (NA) | NA | Only performing normal daily routine with some recreational activities or walking slowly and doing no structured exercise | NA | 71.3 | 10-18 | 400 |
 Lebanon | Nasreddine, 2014 (2009) | NA | Based on weekly frequency: Neverd | NA | 32.6 | Mean: 13.06 | 868 |
 Palestine | Jildeh, 2011 (2002-2003) | The Health Behavior for School-Aged Children Project (HBSC) | <5 days a week | First Palestinian National Health and Nutrition Survey Questionnaire (2000) | 77.6 | 11-16 | 314 |
Arar, 2009 (NA) | NA | No extra-curricular (EC) physical activities | NA | 43.3 | 9-11 | 180 | |
 Sudan | Moukhyer, 2008 (2001) | NA | Not engaging in sports activities | NA | 33.4 | 10-19 | 1200 |