| The purpose of this study was to determine the levels of nutrition and first aid/safety knowledge of 149 physical education teachers in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Selected personal and professional factors related to such knowledge levels were also examined.;The researcher developed a four-part, 97-item "Nutrition and First Aid/Safety Knowledge" (NFASK) questionnaire to gather the data. Part one solicited nutrition knowledge, while part two tested first aid/safety knowledge. Demographic information was obtained in part three and data related to the teachers' perceived importance of education nutrition, first aid/safety, and health education were gathered in part four. The Nutrition and First Aid/Safety Knowledge (NFASK) instrument was pilot-tested using 40 first-year prospective physical education teachers in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. KR-20 reliability coefficient for the nutrition section was.63 and.61 for the first aid/safety section.;For the purposes of this study, four research questions and four null hypotheses were generated and tested.;The results of the study indicated that, overall, physical education teachers in Riyadh City were not well-informed with respect to nutrition and first aid/safety. The mean score for the nutrition section was 17.82 out of 39 items, and 12.60 for the first aid/safety section out of 34 items. No relationships were found between the level of nutrition and first aid/safety knowledge and respondents' age, higher degree obtained, marital status, years of teaching experience, place of training, or level where currently teaching. A significant difference was found, however, between nutrition knowledge based on higher degree obtained; those who graduated with a bachelor degree had a higher mean nutrition knowledge score than those who graduated with a diploma.;Other findings indicated that 39% of the sample had no prior courses in health education, 50% no prior courses in nutrition, and 34% no prior courses in first aid/safety. About half (54%) of the sample had received a bachelor degree, and 43% of the sample had received a diploma.;The respondents did have a positive attitude toward the importance of education in nutrition, first aid/safety, and health, and agreed on the need for more training to be available to them in these fields. The majority of the sample expressed their willingness to participate in in-service programs related to nutrition, first aid/safety, and health education. Reasons for the low levels of knowledge were discussed and recommendations provided. |
