EVALUATION OF SPORTS AWARENESS AMONG WOMEN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BAGHDAD FOR THE PERIOD 2011-2016 AND STUDY THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR PARTICIPATION IN SPORTS ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The exercise of activities and sports are of great importance to public health and to maintain the ideal health weight as well as the psychological and mental comfort of humans. The aim of this study is to determine the contribution and participation of educated females in physical activities at the University of Baghdad hall for the years 2011-2016, and to show the factors that influence women's contribution to physical activities at the university by selecting 100 students of males and 100 females' students randomly. During the questioning questions and statistical analysis of the questioning to find out the reasons for the discouraging contribution of the women to the various physical activities and try to find solutions and recommendations to encourage women to participate more with physical activities. The results of the study showed that the percentage of female university students in physical activities participation was 1.2 in 2011, while it was raised to 5.03% in 2016. This percentage is very low compared to the number of female students, which is 2.9% higher than that of males in the university. More than half of the women participating in the sports were overweight and obese, and the proportion of obese women was 59.4 in 2011 and the proportion decreased statistically to 53.3 in 2016. There is a high statistical difference between natural and high weight for the years 2011-2016. It was also found that there is a significant difference of females who suffer from chronic diseases and for all ages of 2011-2016 years. The statistical analysis of the questionnaire questions shows that most respondents did not participate or exercise physical activities, and the high proportion of them prefer to participate to a high degree of sports activities when they have opportunities to participate. It was also found that the large percentage of respondents attributed the reason for not exercising to sports due to lack of time and discouragement by others as well as the lack of places and halls for the exercise of sports activities. The study showed that the high percentage of respondents explained the possibility of increasing the contribution to sports activities for females by increasing the number of places and gymnasiums in all Iraqi cities as well as increasing the awareness of sports and propaganda through the media, through the television screen and the importance of health and clarification through video, The high percentage of respondents encouraged them to their families and friends to engage in various sports activities, and fortunately the economic factor and income is of little importance to those respondents. All of this shows that there is great concern and enthusiasm for physical activities participation's, which are understandable for their health importance and for maintaining the ideal health weight, but for the difficult conditions that Iraq is going through and the lack of infrastructure.