Consumption of energy drink and associated factors

Abstract

Purpose Energy drink (ED) consumption has become a common trend, especially among the youth. Hence, the purpose of this study was undertaken to assess the ED consumption pattern among the university students and investigate the independent predictors for their preference of such drinks. Design/methodology/approach It was a cross-sectional study conducted among 323 students from various departments of Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh. Findings Among students, about 57 per cent were male, and mostly between 21-23 years. About 31 per cent of the students had never consumed ED, while 69 per cent had consumed such drinks at least once in their lifetime. Only 31.4 per cent of the ever consumer had knowledge of its components, and 14.3 per cent of them did not know the negative effects of ED. Bivariate analysis identified the variables that were significantly associated with students’ consumption of ED. Taking the significant factors into a multivariate model, the risks of ED consumption were male gender (OR = 3.82; 95 per cent CI = 2.24 − 6.52), longer study duration in university (OR = 1.02; 95 per cent CI = 1.00 − 1.03) and doing regular physical activity (OR = 1.69; 95 per cent CI = 1.04 − 2.75). Originality/value High consumption of ED among university students is evident, yet their perception regarding components and potential health hazards of such drinks is opaque. This study results suggest the necessity of formulating policy and intervention strategies concentrating on the predictors of ED consumption to promote consciousness about ingredients and related health effects of ED among students of all levels in Bangladesh and other countries as well.

Energy drinks

“…The proportion of students reporting consumption of ED in the present study was 53 per cent. It is slightly higher than that in a study conducted in Bangladesh where 47 per cent of the university students were ED consumers [15]. It also corroborates the findings of other studies carried out in Norway, where 52.3 per cent of adolescents [16], and in Turkey, where 52.5 per cent of university students consumed ED [17].…”

“…The most common side effects reported by ED users in our study were anxiety, thirst, restlessness, insomnia/sleeplessness, irritability, headache and vertigo/dizziness. Similar side effects were observed among ED consumers in the study conducted in America, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries [3,8,15,17,19,22,23].…”

“…But this study found that only one-fifth of consumers had knowledge of the ingredients of ED and among them, only 4.3 per cent knew its potential health hazards. The finding is higher compared to a study in Korea, where 10.4 per cent of nursing students were acquainted with the ingredients in ED [21], and lower than a study in Bangladesh, where 31.4 per cent of university students knew about ED components [15] and in Turkey, where more than half of the university students had a knowledge of the ingredients in ED [4].…”

“…The common reasons for consuming ED reported by the participants were its taste, feeling more energetic, to boost performance during exercise and to increase concentration while studying. Other similar studies recorded similar reasons [3,4,8,15,17,19,22,24,25].…”

“…In our study, a significantly higher proportion of male students were found to consume ED than their female counterparts. A number of studies reported similar findings [3,4,8,14,15,20,26,27]. This might be because male students are involved in more physical activity, are more susceptible to peer pressure, are more careless in their behavior and leave examination preparation to the last minute.…”