Women’s gyms flourish in Jeddah as obesity levels rise

As obesity levels rise, Saudi and expatriate women in Jeddah are increasingly joining fitness clubs, Arab News has found.
Saudi national Khadijah Abubakar said she recently joined a gym to shed what she terms as “unwanted kilograms.”
She felt too embarrassed to jog in public places, so a gym with all the exercise equipment was the best alternative. “The rapidly growing number of obese women of various ages and nationalities has prompted several Saudi and expatriate women to open sports centers,” Abubakar said.
Basmah Abdullah, another Saudi woman, said such facilities are normally attached to beauty salons or in residential flats where they can make at least SR20,000 monthly.
Palestinian expatriate Hanna Abu Taleb said that she initially did not know there were any gyms in the city.
“This was until a Saudi friend told me that she succeeded in reducing her weight considerably at a fitness center. So I also joined one to get rid of my extra weight.”
Abu Taleb said she found that most fitness centers operate in apartments with women members of all nationalities.
She said that she works out for an hour, five days a week, with a qualified Egyptian trainer.
Fatimah, a Saudi who runs a gym, said that these facilities are normally set up in densely populated residential areas.
“The government does not issue licenses for women’s sports clubs. But as long as there are women who want agile and graceful bodies, such gyms will thrive in the Kingdom.”
She said she first opened a hairdresser and beauty shop in a Jeddah district. When it became successful, she opened a gym. Most of her customers welcomed the idea.
She thought that it would be hard to find qualified instructors but this was not the case.
She now employs experienced expatriate women to run the center.
“I never put up any ads for my shop. It was my customers who spread news about the center among their friends and colleagues,” she said.
Another Saudi investor in the field, Hafsah Al-Bishi, said she opened a sports center and a Moroccan bath attached to a beauty shop.
Her net monthly income is between SR10,000 and SR15,000, rising to above SR20,000 during vacations.
She opened her business when she saw how popular a gym was run by a Saudi woman and her Lebanese partner. She said her monthly fees are between SR300 to SR500, which includes the ‘Moroccan bath’.
A divorced woman in her forties, Sameerah, said she rented a large apartment and furnished it with sports equipment, and now runs it with the help of an Egyptian trainer.
She said that the government should grant licenses to such facilities because it could help create jobs for Saudi women.
According to recent reports, 72.4 percent of Saudis over the age of 40 suffer from obesity, and 35.6 percent of the general population. Over 44 percent of women are obese, 26.4 percent of men, and 18 percent of children.
A recent study revealed that a whopping SR500 million a year is spent in the Kingdom on treating people suffering from illnesses related to obesity, especially diabetes. The disease has increased 30 percent over the past 10 years.