{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,7]],"date-time":"2026-07-07T05:14:18Z","timestamp":1783401258245,"version":"3.54.6"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782259200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Obesity among Saudi adolescents has risen sharply, yet whether school athletic participation is associated with students showing improved dietary habits and better anthropometric profiles compared to those of their non-athlete peers remains unclear. This study compared anthropometric indices and dietary habits between school athletes and non-athletes in Riyadh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 124 male secondary school students (70 athletes and 54 non-athletes aged 16\u201317 years) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Athletes were defined as students who reported engaging in vigorous-intensity sport for \u22653 days\/week for \u226560 min\/session. BMI, body weight, and waist circumference were measured objectively. Dietary habit frequencies across ten food categories were assessed using the validated Arab Teens Lifestyle Study (ATLS) questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests and chi-square tests were used; effect sizes were calculated as Cohen\u2019s d. A Bonferroni-corrected threshold (p &lt; 0.005) was applied for multiple dietary comparisons. Results: Athletes had significantly lower BMI (23.64 \u00b1 5.39 vs. 30.28 \u00b1 7.25 kg\/m2; p &lt; 0.001, d = 1.06), body weight (p &lt; 0.001, d = 0.93), and waist circumference (85.46 \u00b1 12.61 vs. 95.50 \u00b1 17.89 cm; p &lt; 0.001, d = 0.66). Obesity prevalence was 15.7% among athletes versus 51.9% among non-athletes. Of ten dietary variables, only fresh fruit consumption showed a between-group difference (62.9% vs. 40.7% high-frequency; p = 0.010), which did not survive Bonferroni correction. Conclusions: School athletes demonstrated substantially better anthropometric profiles than their non-athlete peers, but dietary habit frequencies were largely similar across both groups. The high obesity prevalence among non-athletes underscores the need for school-based programs that combine structured physical activity with targeted nutrition education.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13070852","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T08:43:57Z","timestamp":1782463437000},"page":"852","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Do School Athletes Really Eat Better? Nutritional and Body Composition Differences in Saudi Adolescents"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3269-9509","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ghareeb O.","family":"Alshuwaier","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Exercise Physiology, College of Sport Sciences and Physical Activity, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alhabib, K.F., Batais, M.A., Almigbal, T.H., Alshamiri, M.Q., Altaradi, H., Rangarajan, S., and Yusuf, S. (2020). Demographic, behavioral, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in the Saudi population: Results from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology study (PURE-Saudi). 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