Social determinants and changes in energy drink consumption among adolescents in Norway, 2017-2019: a cross-sectional study

Energy drink consumption and sleep parameters in college and university students: a national cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the frequency of energy drink (ED) consumption, and the association between ED consumption and selected sleep characteristics and parameters in Norwegian college and university students. We also explored whether these associations varied based on sex.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

Data were gathered from the SHOT2022 study (Students' Health and Well-being Study), a national survey.

PARTICIPANTS

53 266 students, aged 18-35 years, enrolled in higher education in Norway (2022).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Estimated marginal means were computed from general linear models investigating the association between ED consumption and continuous sleep outcomes, while log-link binomial regression analysis was used for dichotomous sleep outcomes of sleep measures. All models were adjusted for age.

RESULTS

Among the participants, 4.7% of men and 3.3% of women reported consuming ED daily. The frequency of ED consumption was inversely associated with sleep duration and sleep efficiency, while a direct association was observed with the frequency of ED consumption and sleep patterns such as sleep onset latency and wake after sleep onset across sexes. The strongest association was found between daily ED consumption and short sleep duration where men had a risk ratio (RR) of 2.07; 95% CI 1.77 to 2.42, and women had a RR of 1.87; 95% CI 1.64 to 2.14.

CONCLUSION

ED consumption was a strong determinant for negative sleep outcomes. Even small amounts of ED were associated with poorer sleep outcomes, which warrant more attention towards the consequences of consuming ED among college and university students.

Caffeinated energy drink consumption among Emirati adolescents is associated with a cluster of poor physical and mental health, and unhealthy dietary and lifestyle behaviors: a cross-sectional study

Background

Consumption of caffeinated energy drinks (CED) has escalated during the last few years, especially among schoolchildren, with evident adverse health sequelae in this critical age group.

Objective

This study examined the prevalence of CED consumption and its associations with sleep, physical and mental health, and dietary and lifestyle habits among schoolchildren in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Method

A structured self-administered online questionnaire was developed and disseminated among schoolchildren aged 14-18 years, selected from schools of the seven emirates of the UAE.

Results

More than 4,500 (N= 4,648) responses received. A relatively low prevalence of CED consumption (20%) was found among schoolchildren in the UAE. However, those who reported CED consumption were more likely to report unhealthy dietary (skipping breakfast, frequent snacking, and eating fast foods, low fruit, and vegetable intake) and lifestyle behaviors (long screen time, poor sleep health), in addition to poor self-reported mental and physical health than non-users. CED consumption was significantly and variably associated with multiple sociodemographic factors such as students' nationality, parental companionship, sex, school type, education level (children's and parents'), daily allowance, academic performance, screen time, sleep quality parameters, self-reported physical and mental health, and parents' employment. Sources of knowledge about CED were social media (55%), friends/schoolmates (52%), and family members (52%). Students believed that CED constitute sugar (87%), caffeine (69%), artificial flavors (67%) sweeteners (54%), and stimulating components (43%). The majority (70%) of students reported that CED consumption increases the risks for heart disease, diabetes, high blood sugar (65%), addiction (64%), high blood pressure (59%), and obesity (57%).

Conclusion

These results offer important insights for health professionals, child health specialists, policymakers, and parents in the UAE regarding adolescents' attitudes, knowledge and behaviors toward CED consumption.

Experiences with energy drink consumption among Norwegian adolescents

The objective of the present study was to describe adolescents' habits and experiences with energy drink (ED) consumption and the relation to the amount of ED consumed. We used the national cross-sectional study Ungdata, conducted in 2015-16 in Norway. A total of 15 913 adolescents aged 13-19 years answered questions about ED consumption related to the following topics: reasons for, experiences with, habits and parental attitudes. The sample comprised only adolescents reporting to be ED consumers. We estimated the association between the responses and the average daily consumption of ED in multiple regression models. Those who consumed ED 'to concentrate' or 'to perform better in school' consumed on average 73⋅1 (CI 65⋅8, 80⋅3) and 112⋅0 (CI 102⋅7, 121⋅2) ml more daily, respectively, than those who did not consume ED for these reasons. Up to 80 % of the adolescents reported that 'my parents think it is OK that I drink energy drink', but at the same time almost 50 % reported that 'my parents say that I shouldn't drink energy drink'. Apart from increased endurance and feeling stronger, both desired and adverse effects of ED consumption were reported. Our findings indicate that the expectation created by the ED companies have great influence on the adolescents' consumption rate and that parental attitudes towards ED have little to no influence on the adolescents' consumption rate.

Norwegian adolescents' use of energy drinks and painkillers and misuse of prescription drugs prior to and during the initial COVID-19 pandemic year: Evidence from the MyLife study

AIMS

This study aimed to examine and compare the use of energy drinks, over-the-counter (OTC) painkillers and misuse of prescription drugs in two cohorts of Norwegian adolescents entering high school (i.e. grade 11) immediately prior to and during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

Accelerated longitudinal design and multi-cohort sampling enabled identification of the two socio-demographically comparable cohorts of grade 11 students: (a) COVID-19 cohort assessed in the autumn of 2020 (n=915) and (b) pre-COVID-19 cohort assessed in the autumn of 2018/19 (n=1621). Unadjusted and adjusted logistic and Poisson models were used to estimate the proportion of (mis)users and use frequencies among (mis)users in two cohorts.

RESULTS

Energy drinks use was both more common in the COVID-19 cohort (60.8% vs. 52.5%; adjusted odds ratio=1.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18-1.66, p<0.001) and more frequent among users from this cohort than among their pre-COVID-19 counterparts (9.58 vs. 7.79 days past month, adjusted incidence risk ratio (aIRR)=1.23, 95% CI 1.14-1.32, p<0.001). No cohort differences were observed in OTC painkillers use. Prescription drugs misuse was equally common in the two cohorts but was more frequent among misusers from the COVID-19 cohort than among their pre-COVID-19 counterparts (18.94 vs. 12.45 times past year, aIRR=1.52, 95% CI 1.10-2.10, p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Norwegian adolescents from the COVID-19 cohort were more likely to use energy drinks and, once engaged in these behaviours, to use energy drinks and misuse prescription drugs more frequently than their pre-COVID-19 counterparts.

Energy drinks and alcohol use among adolescents: A longitudinal study

BACKGROUND

Alcohol use is a leading cause of reduced health among young people. Consumption of energy drinks might be a risk factor for alcohol use. The aim of this study was to examine if more frequent consumption of energy drinks in early adolescence was associated with higher concurrent alcohol consumption, and with stronger increase in alcohol use throughout adolescence.

METHODS

The data came from MyLife, a longitudinal study where Norwegian adolescents completed e-questionnaires in the autumn of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. The participants were a nationwide sample of 2916 adolescents (mean age: 14.25 [SD = 0.85], 56% girls). At baseline, adolescents self-reported how often they had consumed energy drinks over the past month, a range of family factors, individual characteristics, and substance use. Self-reports of alcohol use (frequency, usual quantity, and frequency of consuming five or more units) were collected at all five assessments and combined into continuous variables.

RESULTS

The results of fully adjusted growth curve models indicate that more frequent consumption of energy drinks at baseline was associated with greater concurrent alcohol use (p < .001), and greater increase in alcohol use over time (p < .05). The effect of energy drinks on concurrent alcohol use was stronger for girls, but the effect on increase over time was stronger for boys.

CONCLUSION

Consumption of energy drinks in early adolescence is associated with more alcohol use throughout adolescence, but the effect size was rather modest in this sample of Norwegian adolescents.

Excessive Gaming and Online Energy-Drink Marketing Exposure Associated with Energy-Drink Consumption among Adolescents

In this study, we examined excessive online gaming by adolescents and the resultant effects of their exposure to the online marketing of energy drinks and alcohol, and whether marketing literacy could serve as a mitigating factor. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020. Data were obtained from a sample of 2613 seventh-grade students from 30 middle schools in Taiwan. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted. The results showed that nearly 18% of the adolescent respondents had used energy drinks, while 75% reported seeing energy-drink advertisements on the internet in the past year. Multiple regression results indicated that factors such as being male, reporting excessive gaming, being exposed to higher levels of online energy-drink marketing, and reporting alcohol use were positively associated with energy-drink consumption. A higher level of online energy-drink marketing-affective literacy, however, was negatively associated with energy-drink consumption. In conclusion, factors that predicted energy-drink consumption among adolescents included excessive gaming and exposure to online energy-drink marketing, but marketing-affective literacy tended to lessen the impact of such advertising.

Sleep and energy drink consumption among Norwegian adolescents - a cross-sectional study

Background

Adolescents are recommended to get 8–10 h of sleep at night, yet more than 80% fail to obtain this goal. Energy drink (ED) consumption has been linked to later bedtime in adolescents. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the potential association between ED consumption and sleep duration, and shuteye latency among adolescents in Norway.

Methods

This study was based on data from 15- to 16-year-old adolescents living in Oppland County in 2017. In total, 1353 adolescents were included in the analysis. Multiple regression models were used to estimate the associations between the frequency of ED consumption with sleep duration, shuteye latency, and getting 8 h of sleep.

Results

Forty-six point five percent of the adolescents reported sleeping more than 8 h at night. Those who reported ED consumption at any frequency had significantly shorter sleep duration than those who did not. On average, high consumers of ED (consuming ED ≥ 4 times a week) had 0.95 (95% CI: 0.61, 1.28) hours (i.e., 57 min) less sleep than those who never consumed ED. In addition, high consumers had more than 25 min (95% CI: 13.95, 36.92) longer shuteye period than those who never consumed ED.

Conclusion

Most ED consumers fail to obtain the recommended 8 h of sleep at night, which could be a consequence of shorter sleep duration and longer shuteye latency. We found a dose-response relationship between frequency of ED consumption and reduced sleep. Yet, the potential long-term effects of both ED consumption and insufficient sleep among adolescents remain unclear.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-022-12972-w.