kjhp Korean Journal of Health Promotion Korean J Health Promot 2234-2141 2093-5676 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 10.15384/kjhp.2015.15.1.31 kjhp-15-31 Original Article Effects of Awareness and Knowledge of Energy Drinks on Consumption Patterns among College Students KimYoo Jin JeonEun Min ShimSung Bo SeoHwa Jeong Medical Informatics and health Technology (MIT), Department of Health Care Services, College of Social Science, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea Corresponding author：Hwa Jeong Seo, PhD Medical Informatics and health Technology (MIT), Department of Health Care Services, College of Social Science, Gachon University, 1342 Seongnam-daero, Sujeong-gu, Seongnam 461-701, Korea Tel: +82-31-750-8741, Fax: +82-31-750-5372 E-mail: hjseo@gachon.ac.kr 122015 19122015 151 3138 21082014 09022015 Copyright © 2015 The Korean Society of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention 2015 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background

We examined the consumption patterns and the knowledge and awareness of energy drinks to draw up a guideline for energy drink consumption and to give accurate information to college student.

 Methods

Data from 324 subjects (186 males and 138 females) were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The study participants were recruited from the Gyeonggi-do, Seongnam area between March and June 2013.

 Results

The results showed that there was a significant gender-based difference in awareness of energy drinks- 56.5% (78/139) of the males and 78.9% (71/90) of the females had negative awareness (P<.001). As for recognizability of taurine by awareness of energy drinks, there were intergroup differences: the mean was 3.89 for the group with positive awareness and 3.31 for the negative awareness group (P=.001). The odds ratio for awareness of energy drinks was 2.75 (95% CI:1.05-7.18) and those with positive awareness consumed more than those with negative awareness (P=.039).

 Conclusions

This investigation on the factors that affect energy drinks consumption behaviors is of significance in that it helps make known the high caffeine content of energy drinks, and accurate knowledge of the side effects and appropriate consumption. Korean J Health Promot 2015;15(1):31-38

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Awareness and knowledge of energy drinks by study participants

Variables Awareness χ2 P Knowledge χ2 P
Positive Negative High Middle Low
Gender Male 61 (43.9) 78 (56.1) 12.465 <0.001 17 (9.1) 98 (52.7) 71 (38.2) 7.031 0.030
Female 19 (21.1) 71 (78.9) 4 (2.9) 67 (48.6) 67 (48.6)
Grade 1, 2 3, 4 37 (34.9) 43 (35.0) 69 (65.1) 80 (65.0) 0.000 0.993 10 (6.3) 11 (6.7) 82 (51.3) 83 (50.6) 68 (42.5) 70 (42.7) 0.033 0.983
Consumption experience Ever Never 74 (37.8) 6 (18.2) 122 (62.2) 27 (81.8) 4.761 0.029 18 (6.6) 3 (6.0) 140 (51.1) 25 (50.0) 116 (42.3) 22 (44.0) 0.074 0.969

Awareness: The level of positive or negative awareness of energy drinks.

Knowledge: The level of basic knowledge of energy drinks, including the recommended daily consumption amount and the caffeine content.

Recognizability of caffeine and taurine in energy drinks

Variable Caffeine Taurine
N M SD ta P N M SD ta P
Gender Male 180 4.03 1.098 1.347 0.179 164 3.51 1.185 2.154 0.032
Female 135 3.87 1.071 105 3.21 1.044
Grade 1, 2 155 3.99 1.162 0.403 0.686 130 3.42 1.213 0.455 0.649
Awareness 3, 4 Positive 160 78 3.94 4.45 1.014 1.136 3.229 0.001 139 71 3.36 3.89 1.070 1.271 3.433 0.001
Negative 148 3.96 .975 124 3.31 1.053

Abbreviations: M, mean; SD, standard deviation.

t value obtained from independent t-test. Awareness: The level of positive or negative awareness of energy drinks. Recognizability: The level of awareness of caffeine and taurine, which are principal ingredients of energy drinks.

Reasons for using energy drinks

Variable Curiosity Suggestions from others Concentration enhancement Habit Fatigue recovery Feel good With friends To relieve stress
Gender Male 36 (22.0) 24 (14.6) 48 (29.3) 6 (3.7) 131 (79.9) 6 (3.7) 10 (6.1) 11 (6.7)
Female 19 (17.3) 21 (19.1) 24 (21.8) 0 (0.0) 73 (66.4) 0 (0.0) 13 (11.8) 8 (7.3)
Grade 1, 2 27 (20.8) 18 (13.8) 35 (26.9) 3 (2.3) 104 (80.0) 4 (3.1) 13 (10.0) 5 (3.8)
3, 4 28 (19.4) 27 (18.8) 37 (25.7) 3 (2.1) 100 (69.4) 2 (1.4) 10 (6.9) 14 (9.7)
Awareness Positive Negative 9 (12.2) 32 (26.2) 7 (9.5) 26 (21.3) 26 (35.1) 27 (22.1) 0 (0.0) 5 (4.1) 62 (83.7) 81 (66.4) 3 (4.1) 2 (1.6) 5 (6.8) 11 (9.0) 7 (9.5) 9 (7.4)
Knowledge High 2 (11.1) 3 (16.7) 8 (44.4) 1 (5.6) 15 (83.3) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 2 (11.1)
Middle 34 (24.3) 28 (20.2) 35 (25.0) 3 (2.1) 107 (76.4) 5 (3.6) 15 (10.7) 7 (5.0)
Low 19 (16.4) 14 (12.1) 29 (25.0) 2 (1.7) 82 (70.7) 1 (0.9) 8 (6.9) 10 (8.6)

Awareness: The level of positive or negative awareness of energy drinks.

Knowledge: The level of basic knowledge of energy drinks, including the recommended daily consumption amount and the caffeine content.

Factors affecting consumption of energy drink

Variable OR 95% CI P
Gender Male 0.97 (0.44-2.16) 0.940
Female - -
Gradea 1, 2 0.50 (0.23-1.08) 0.077
3, 4 - -
Awareness Positive 2.75 (1.05-7.18) 0.039
Negative - -
Knowledge High 1.27 (0.25-6.48) 0.773
Middle 1.19 (0.54-2.63) 0.663
Low - -

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio.

adjusted variable Awareness: The level of positive or negative awareness of energy drinks. Knowledge: The level of basic knowledge of energy drinks, including the recommended daily consumption amount and the caffeine content.