Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40338971›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Risk factors for cardiovascular disease among Saudi students: Association with BMI, current smoking, level of physical activity, and dietary habits.

Mohammed Shaab Alibrahim, Mohamed Ahmed Said, Abdulmalek K Bursais, Ibrahim I Atta, Mohamed Abdelmoniem Abdelrahman, Hasnaa Hamdi Mohamed, Ahmad K Hassan, Abdulrahman I Alaqil, Norah S Almudaires, Narjis M A Alamer and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Mohammed Shaab AlibrahimDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Mohamed Ahmed SaidDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4217-7122
Abdulmalek K BursaisDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2624-6012
Ibrahim I AttaDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3138-5129
Mohamed Abdelmoniem AbdelrahmanDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Hasnaa Hamdi MohamedCollege of Applied Medical Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
Ahmad K HassanDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahman I AlaqilDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Norah S AlmudairesDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Narjis M A AlamerDepartment of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University Al Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.
Osama Eid AljuhaniDepartment of Physical Education, College of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5336-1721
Hind Omer Salem AlshaghdaliDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction, Faculty of Education, Hail University, Saudi Arabia.
Amani Hamzah ALjahaniDepartment of Physical Sport Sciences, College of Sport Science and Physical Activity, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia.
Zuhair A Al SalimDepartment of Sport Science and Physical Activity, College of Science, University of Hafer Al Batin, Saudi Arabia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1148-6363
Atyh Abdullah HadadiDepartment of Sports Science, College of Education, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.
Najeeb Abbas AldarushiDepartment of Sports Management, College of Sports Science, Jeddah University, Saudi Arabia.
Amal Nassir AlkuraieefDepartment of Physical Sport Sciences, College of Sport Science and Physical Activity, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Saudi Arabia.
Ghareeb O AlshuwaierDepartment of Exercise Physiology, College of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, including poor diet, lack of physical activity (PA), smoking, and obesity, are associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices and contribute significantly to the global disease burden. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of behavioral risk factors associated with overweight/obesity, PA, smoking, and eating habits among Saudi students and explores how these vary by region, age, gender, relationship status, and income. A total of 968 participants (285 males and 681 females), aged 18-50, were recruited from bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and other university programs across the Eastern, Riyadh, and Western provinces. Each participant completed the Saudi Food Frequency Questionnaire (SFFQ). The risk of CVD was assessed by summing individual risk factors related to BMI, tobacco use, PA level, glycemic load (GL) of ingested foods, and consumption of saturated fats (SF), processed meats, oily fish, nuts, and cereal fiber (CF). Participants were classified into minimal, medium, or high-risk categories based on their total scores. A high prevalence of CVD risk factors was observed, with 93.6% of participants having three or more risk factors. After adjusting for demographic variables, living in Riyadh was associated with a 12% lower probability of CVD risk. Conversely, students aged 46-50 showed a five- to nine-fold increase in CVD risk. Significant factors influencing CVD risk included BMI (Exp(β) = 11.70), smoking status (Exp(β) = 6.54), PA (Exp(β) = 7.61), SF intake (Exp(β) = 4.79), GL (Exp(β) = 7.00), CF intake (Exp(β) = 24.58), and oily fish consumption (Exp(β) = 2.99). Low CF intake and high BMI were the most prominent risk factors. Lifestyle interventions targeting overweight/obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, high GL and SF intake, and promoting CF and oily fish consumption could improve CV health among participants. Addressing these modifiable risk factors is essential for effective prevention.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexCardiovascular DiseasesExerciseFeeding BehaviorSmokingAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedObesityPrevalenceRisk FactorsSaudi ArabiaStudents

Identifiers

PMID40338971
PMCPMC12061183

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.