Maintaining children’s physical activity levels is crucial to preventing obesity and improving their health and well-being. However, achieving the recommended daily level of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity can be difficult for children with disabilities. Moreover, children with disabilities spend less time engaging in physical activity than their typically developing peers. This study aimed to assess the personal, environmental, and social determinants of physical activity among children with disabilities. This quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey of a convenient sample, including 125 parents of children with disabilities aged between 5 and 18 years from different regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Approximately 40.8% of the participants were aged between 41 and 50 years, and 57.6% (the participants and friends of their children) did not engage in regular exercise. Statistically significant differences were observed between the perception of children’s health and physical activity summary scores and the engagement of children’s friends in physical activity and physical activity summary scores. Efforts should be made to reinforce parents’ perceptions of their children’s health regarding physical activity and to support the social determinants of physical activity that ensure their children’s friends’ engagement. Specialized interventional studies are needed to support parents with children.

Studies have shown that children with Down syndrome (DS) are at high risk for physical inactivity and obesity. This study aimed to explore mother’s perceptions of the physical activity levels, need...

When health experts declared COVID-19 to be a global pandemic, they recognized the virus as a major environmental factor that could affect the practice of breastfeeding. A few studies focused on the effect of COVID-19 on mothers who gave birth during the pandemic. The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of Saudi Arabian breastfeeding mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a descriptive phenomenology qualitative design and a convenience sample of 18 mothers who breastfed their children beginning in March 2020. Data were collected through semi-structured, open-ended phone interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The mothers were between 27 and 36 years old, and most of them had previous breastfeeding experience. Four main themes emerged regarding breastfeeding experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: breastfeeding experience (positive and negative), support, facilitators, and challenges. Most mothers felt their experience with breastfeeding during the pandemic encouraged them to continue. It is important to reassure and educate breastfeeding mothers about the nature of COVID-19 and its mode of transmission. The findings from this study lay the foundation for future research to support the practice of breastfeeding and overcome the challenges that arose during the pandemic.

Parental attitudes towards childhood vaccination programs are important for successful delivery. Children were affected by COVID-19; however, parental attitudes towards childhood COVID-19 vaccination have not been fully assessed. The purpose is to assess parental hesitancy and attitudes about their children receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. This was a cross-sectional study using an electronically distributed questionnaire including a convenience sample of 123 Saudi Arabian parents of school-aged children between five and eleven years old. Most of the participants were mothers (77.2%) aged 31–40 years old (61%). The mean score of the questionnaire about parents’ attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine was M = 18.95, SD = 5.52. Only 39% of the parents were hesitant to have their children receive the seasonal influenza vaccine compared to 74% who were hesitant to have their children receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Most of the children (80%) did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine because of parental concerns about the vaccine’s side effects (49.5 %). Parents whose children received the COVID-19 vaccine (Median = 24, IQR = 9) had higher attitude scores than those whose children did not receive the vaccine (Median = 17, IQR = 6). The findings shed light on parental attitudes towards their children receiving a COVID-19 vaccination. Healthcare providers can build upon this study to improve parental attitudes towards childhood vaccination.

It is mandatory that healthcare workers wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while caring for COVID-19 patients. Studies have shown that wearing PPE for a prolonged time may lead to symptoms of physical discomfort including headache. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence and association between prolonged use of PPE and headaches. This was a cross-sectional study. A convenience sample of healthcare workers who worked with COVID-19 patients in clinical settings was recruited. The data were collected through an electronic survey shared as a link through social media. This study included 1060 participants, 753 (71%) female and 307 (29%) male. Participants were divided into two groups. Group A had 628 (60%) participants who did not have chronic headache before the COVID-19 pandemic, while Group B contained 432 (40%) participants who had a previous chronic headache. Headaches differed significantly between Groups A and B in frequency, type, location, and quality during the COVID-19 period. The analysis found a significant relationship between duration of PPE use and headache occurrence. The significant relationship between the duration of PPE usage and headache occurrence among healthcare workers should be considered when refining policies and procedures regarding prolonged PPE use.

Background: The care of a child receiving chemotherapy has a significant impact on the parents and family structure, which has been explored in depth in a few studies in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study is to further explore the lived experiences of Saudi Arabian parents in caring for their children receiving chemotherapy. Methodology: A qualitative descriptive design was used in this study with a sample of 17 parents of children receiving chemotherapy. The participants were recruited using the snow-balling technique throughout the community, as well as from the University Hospital, Pediatric Oncology Department. The data were collected via in-person and virtual methods using semi-structured, open-ended interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: The findings of the study were placed into two main themes: family experience and stages of disease. Family experiences include the parents and siblings’ experiences. The stages of disease include three sub-themes: the pre-diagnosis phase, diagnosis phase, and treatment phase. Conclusion: The cancer journey had a huge impact on the parents and siblings. The study revealed important findings related to the experiences during the stages of diseases and lived experiences of parents and siblings including psychological, physiological, social, and financial impacts.