A new study presented during the activities of the Dubai International Food Safety Conference showed that the total consumption of energy drinks among school students in Al Ain is 27%, and that 42.4% of them consume it once to three times a week.
The study conducted by the researcher nutritionist at the Community Nutrition Department at Tawam Hospital, Aisha Abdullah Al-Mulla, aimed at monitoring the pattern of consumption and spread of energy drinks, and studying the relationship between their consumption and the consumption of fast food among school students, who ranged between 10 and 18 years in the city of Al Ain.
School students were chosen to study in a multistage stratified random sampling method, as 1611 male and female students were collected in a direct interview, using a modified version of the questionnaire approved by the European Food Safety Authority, with statistical analysis of the data of these students between the ages of 10 and 18 years, From private and public schools.
The study found that males were more likely to consume energy drinks compared to females, by 57% versus 43%, and that non-consumers of energy drinks were more compliant with the recommendations of the hours of sleep, compared to consumers of energy drinks, by 62% compared to 37%.
It also found that energy drink consumers were more likely to eat fast food two to three times a week, compared to non-consumers.
Students between the ages of 14 and 18 were twice as likely to consume energy drinks than students between the ages of 10 and 13.
The study recommended limiting the places for selling energy drinks, with putting in place serious measures for the age group allowed to be consumed, such as displaying identity, clearly setting warning signs, and raising the ceiling of the age group allowed to be consumed to 18 years.