Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Nov 7:69:1606906.
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1606906. eCollection 2024.

Energy Drink Consumption Among Physically Active Polish Adolescents: Gender and Age-Specific Public Health Issue

Dominika Granda  1 , Olga Surała  1 , Jadwiga Malczewska-Lenczowska  1 , Beata Szczepańska  1 , Anna Pastuszak  2 , Radosław Sarnecki  3
Affiliations

Energy Drink Consumption Among Physically Active Polish Adolescents: Gender and Age-Specific Public Health Issue

Dominika Granda et al. Int J Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: To analyse the consumption of energy drinks (EDs) and the motives for their consumption among physically active adolescents in Poland.

Methods: A nationwide survey study was conducted in 1,530 adolescents (10-14 years old) participating in extracurricular, organised sports activities. A computer-assisted web interview method was applied.

Results: Nearly half (46.4%) of the respondents were ED consumers (significantly more boys than girls: 53.0% vs. 47.0%, p = 0.010). The percentage of ED consumers increased with age, from 27.2% in 10-year-olds to 65.4% in the group of 14-year-olds (p < 0.001). The motives and circumstances of ED consumption varied depending on gender: girls were more likely than boys to drink EDs to improve concentration during studying (17.1% vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001) and to stay awake (22.8% vs. 13.8%, p = 0.002), whereas boys more often than girls reported drinking EDs during physical activity (10.9% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.020).

Conclusion: It is necessary to implement gender-diversified educational campaigns on negative health effects of EDs, targeting children, parents and teachers, as consumption of EDs has been identified as a significant public health problem in Poland.

Keywords: adolescents; consumption; energy drinks; motives for health behaviours; nutrition; physical activity; public health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Distribution of energy drink consumers among various age groups (Poland, 2022).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Breda JJ, Whiting SH, Encarnação R, Norberg S, Jones R, Reinap M, et al. Energy Drink Consumption in Europe: A Review of the Risks, Adverse Health Effects, and Policy Options to Respond. Front Public Health (2014) 2:134. 10.3389/fpubh.2014.00134 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Broughton D, Fairchild RM, Morgan MZ. A Survey of Sports Drinks Consumption Among Adolescents. Br Dent J (2016) 220:639–43. 10.1038/sj.bdj.2016.449 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Higgins JP, Tuttle TD, Higgins CL. Energy Beverages: Content and Safety. Mayo Clinic Proc (2010) 85:1033–41. 10.4065/mcp.2010.0381 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alsunni AA. Energy Drink Consumption: Beneficial and Adverse Health Effects. Int J Health Sci (Qassim) (2015) 9:459–65. 10.12816/0031237 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alford C, Cox H, Wescott R. The Effects of Red Bull Energy Drink on Human Performance and Mood. Amino Acids (2001) 21:139–50. 10.1007/s007260170021 - DOI - PubMed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. There were no financial costs associated with the survey. The costs associated with the publication were covered by the Institute of Sport—National Research Institute.