{
  "abstract": "Background: Overweight and obesity are rising among Saudi university students. Guided by Popkin’s nutrition transition theory, this study examined regional variation in overweight/obesity, sedentary behavior, and nutrition-transition dietary patterns.\n\nMethods: This cross-sectional study (March–May 2023) recruited 564 students from four Saudi administrative regions using a multistage sampling approach. Three colleges per university were selected across three academic domains; within each college, one male and one female class per academic level were invited; all eligible students completed the questionnaire. Students with prior type 2 diabetes were excluded. BMI was calculated from self-reported weight and height (overweight/obesity: ≥ 25.0 kg/m ² ). Dietary patterns were identified using principal-component analysis of 17 food groups from a validated 66-item food frequency questionnaire. Physical activity was assessed via IPAQ-SF (sufficient: ≥ 150 min/week); composite sedentary behavior exposure was classified as low (< 8 h/day), moderate (8–12 h/day), or high (> 12 h/day). Logistic regression adjusted for sex, age, income, college type, region, and smoking.\n\nResults: Overweight/obesity prevalence was 17.9% ( n = 100/558); as BMI relied on self-reported anthropometrics, this is a conservative lower bound. A marked regional gradient was observed: 27.8% of Riyadh students were overweight/obese versus 8.8% in Makkah ( χ ² = 25.48, p < 0.001). Region showed the strongest association with overweight/obesity after adjustment: Riyadh (aOR = 4.62, 95% CI 2.23–9.59, p < 0.001) and male sex (aOR = 1.96, 95% CI 1.04–3.71, p = 0.037) were the only significant predictors. Composite sedentary behavior exposure was high: 82.3% were moderately or highly sedentary (≥ 8 h/day), dominated by mobile phone use (3.75 h/day) and academic study (3.35 h/day). Sedentary behavior was higher in overweight/obese students (15.5 vs. 13.9 h/day; p = 0.043). Nutrition-transition dietary patterns were not associated with overweight/obesity (aOR = 0.93, p = 0.543).\n\nConclusion: Region showed the strongest association with overweight/obesity, with Riyadh students at four-fold higher risk than Makkah students, suggesting that regional structural and environmental factors may contribute to obesity risk in this population. Prolonged mobile phone use and screen-based sedentarism were prevalent and associated with overweight/obesity. Campus interventions targeting sedentary screen behavior and regional food environments, particularly in Riyadh, are warranted; future studies should employ direct anthropometry to obtain unbiased prevalence estimates.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Exercise Physiology, College of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University , ,",
    "College of Education, Department of Physical Education, King Faisal University , ,"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohummed H. Alkhraiji"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Abdulrahman I. Alaqil"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e77qpy9kw3dm2.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980253",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13668806/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "e77qpy9kw3dm2",
  "issns": [
    "2296-2565"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13668806",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7215114189",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13668806/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13668806",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e77qpy9kw3dm2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:18Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13668806",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13668806"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:22Z",
      "native_id": "10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980253",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980253/full"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Regional differences in obesity risk, sedentary behavior, and dietary patterns among university students in Saudi Arabia: a multi-region cross-sectional study",
  "title_text": "Regional differences in obesity risk, sedentary behavior, and dietary patterns among university students in Saudi Arabia: a multi-region cross-sectional study",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:22Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e77qpy9kw3dm2",
  "venue": "Frontiers in public health",
  "versions": []
}