Online Program

332310
Trends in energy drinks consumption by US adolescents by sex, age, and race/ethnicity, 2010-2013


Monday, November 2, 2015 : 8:50 a.m. - 9:10 a.m.

Eun Me Cha, MPH, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus, Austin, TX
Nalini Ranjit, PhD, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, Dept. of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin, TX
Deanna Hoelscher, PhD RD LD CNS, Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, University of Texas School of Public Health, Austin Regional Campus, Austin, TX
Background

Monitoring the Future (MTF) is a population-based survey on health risk behaviors of adolescents in the United States. In 2010, a measure of daily energy drinks consumption was added to the MTF survey with ordinal responses ranging from none to seven or more per day. Energy drinks have become very popular among young people since their entry into the market in the late 1990s. Containing stimulants like caffeine, taurine, vitamins, guarana, and sugar or sweeteners, energy drinks are claimed to increase energy, improve athletic performance, and enhance concentration. Several studies have been conducted on adults’ energy drinks consumption, but there is limited information on prevalence and trend of energy drinks among adolescents in the U.S.  

Methods

A total of 21,103 8th grade, 19,824 10th grade, and 9,599 12th grade students participated in this cross-sectional survey from 2010 to 2013. The students were selected via multistage random sampling, first at the geographic area, followed by school and class level. Annual prevalence estimates of energy drinks were obtained from the question, “About how many energy drinks do you drink PER DAY, on average?” In this study, we evaluated the overall prevalence and trend of energy drinks consumption in adolescents from year 2010 to 2013. Stratified analyses by sex, age and race/ethnicity were performed to identify any patterns in each group. All analyses were weighted to account for the complex sampling scheme.

Results

Across all four years, the 8th grade students reported the highest percentage of energy drinks consumption, followed by the 12th and the 10th grade students. An overall decreasing trend of energy drinks consumption was observed in the 10th and 12th grades from 2010 to 2013 whereas the prevalence for the 8th grade remained stable from 2010 to 2012 with a slight decrease in 2013. Compared to girls, the prevalence was higher among boys in all grades and years. Overall, African American students reported the lowest percentage of consumption while Hispanic students reported the highest. In addition a clear decreasing pattern was observed in the 8th and 10th grade African American students from 2010 to 2013.   

Conclusion

Findings indicate that prevalence of energy drink consumption was highest in the 8th grade, Hispanic students. The overall decreasing trend is promising, but intervention strategies targeting younger students, especially Hispanics, are needed.

Learning Areas:

Epidemiology

Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the population-based trend in energy drinks consumption among adolescents in the United States over the years 2010 to 2013. Examine if there are variations in the trend by sex, age, and race/ethnicity over this period.

Keyword(s): Adolescents, Survey

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As a doctoral student in epidemiology, I have a strong background in epidemiology and biostatistics. Previously I had performed analysis on public health data like NHIS and NHANES. For this abstract, I analyzed the MTF dataset for energy drinks consumption in adolescent population in America.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.