The aim of the study was to examine the anthropometric measurements, sociodemographics, and lifestyle behaviors among Saudi adolescents relative to sex and physical activity (PA). A random cross-sectional survey conducted on Saudi adolescents from secondary schools in Riyadh, using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Measurements included demographics, weight, height, waist circumference, PA, sedentary behaviors (SB), sleep duration, and dietary habits using a validated questionnaire. A total of 1262 adolescents (16.4 ± 0.95 years; 52.4% males) were studied. Overweight/obesity was more than 40%. Physical inactivity among adolescents was 53%, which indicates some improvement over the past years, especially among females. More than 80% of adolescents had over three hours/day of screen time, with no significant sex differences. Insufficient sleep was highly prevalent with gender differences. A large proportion of the participants did not consume daily breakfast (65.7%), vegetables (73.2%), fruits (84.2%), or milk/dairy products (62.4%), whereas significant proportions of the adolescents consumed sugar-sweetened drinks, fast food, French fries/potato chips, cake/donuts, and chocolates/candy on at least three days or more per week. It was concluded that non-daily intake of breakfast and vegetables was significantly associated with lower PA. The updated information can aid in effectively planning and implementing promotional programs toward improving the lifestyle behaviors of Saudi adolescent.

Background: Sedentary behaviors (SB) are very prevalent nowadays. Prolonged sitting associates with chronic disease risks and increased mortality even while controlling for physical activity. Objective measurement of SB is costly, requires technical expertise, and is challenging in terms of time and management. Currently, there is no validated self-reported instrument in the Arabic language that assesses SB among individuals and relates sedentary time to social, environmental, and health outcomes. The aim of this research was to develop a multi-item Arabic SB questionnaire (ASBQ). Methods: The ASBQ was developed through an extensive literature review and discussion by the research team (n = 5), then went through content validation (n = 10 experts) and pre-testing using cognitive interviewing procedures (n = 51 respondents, mean (SD) age was 38.3 (18.2) years, and with 49% females). Results: The ASBQ included 13 questions comprising a wide range of sedentary activities. The Arabic SB instrument showed excellent content validity for assessing sedentary time in adolescents and adults with a very high item-level and scale-level content validity index. A kappa statistic, a measure of interrater reliability, was 0.95. The pre-testing showed that the instrument was highly rated by a diverse sample of Saudi adolescents and adults. Conclusion: The ASBQ received excellent acceptance by a panel of experts with promising pre-test results. Further testing of psychometric properties, including test-retest reliability and criterion validity is required.

Background: the COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on human health, affecting many lifestyle behaviors such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, dietary habits and sleep. Purpose: to assess the feasibility of six sessions of a virtual behavioral intervention to promote healthy lifestyle practices during a stay-at-home advisory phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A participant-blinded randomized controlled trial was performed through a virtual platform setting. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. They were assigned to a motivational interviewing (MI) intervention or attention group, with pre- and postintervention assessments. The MI treatment consisted of six sessions (twice each week). The same number of virtual structured sessions were provided for the attention group, and they provided brief advice to promote healthy lifestyles. The study was conducted from April to June 2020. Results: The feasibility outcomes indicated that 39 of the 50 participants (78%) completed the trial. The dropout rate was 21.7% for the attention group and 22.2% for the intervention group. Participating in MI had a significant positive interventional effect on physical activity level, distress and fear of COVID-19. Conclusions: It is feasible to deliver behavioral change interventions virtually. Further, MI can be used as a useful strategy for the favorable promotion of a healthy lifestyle. Trial registration: NCT05392218 (26/05/2022).

Methotrexate (MTX) is classified as an antimetabolite. It’s commonly used to treat lung cancer. MTX is an immunosuppressant following the above-mentioned mechanism of action due to its poor selectivity. The tricky move is to investigate the solid dispersions and coating using a co-delivery system of MTX and Ambroxol (ABL). ABL is known for its, anticancer and preferential pulmonary distribution after oral administration. The goals was development were the MTX physiochemical modulation for pulmonary enhanced distribution, MTX resistance modulation and long-acting system development using ABL middle coating and HPMC outer coating. The selection of the optimum MTX-ABL dispersion was done based on the FT-IR characterization. The MTX-release analysis results for the optimized MTX-ABL solid dispersion and the HPMC-coated MTX-ABL gel product were tested for release in the gastrointestinal simulated media to select the most optimum HPMC amounts to coat the MTX-ABL optimum solid dispersion. Moreover, different characterizations of FT-IR, X-ray diffraction and Scanning electron microscopy investigations were completed for the MTX, ABL, the ABL-MTX optimized solid dispersion and the optimum MTX-ABL-HPMC gel. The cytotoxicity assay and the ELISA to assess the levels of BAX, BCL-2, TGF-β and FR-ɑ after the MTX, ABL and the optimized MTX-ABL solid dispersion groups were tested against lung cancer cells, A549 cells, for 24 h. The sustained release character and HPMC-ABL encapsulation of MTX were confirmed. The MTX-ABL solid dispersion showed less MTX resistance without the need to use the high MTX concentrations in comparison to the MTX alone. The apoptotic, anti-metastatic, and MTX preferential lung cancer uptake profiles were higher using the MTX-ABL solid dispersion than in the MTX or ABL. The MTX-ABL-HPMC gel could serve as an alternative to the MTX-oral tablets available in the markets with enhanced efficacy and safety profile.