Adolescents who drink sports drinks could have an increased risk of participating in unhealthy behavior such as cigarette smoking and excessive screen media use.
Data has shown a decrease in the prevalence of sports drink and soda consumption, but energy drink consumption has nearly tripled in adolescents in recent years, an Elsevier news release reported.
These energy drinks tend to be high in caffeine, sugar, and calories.
The researchers looked at surveys taken by 2,793 adolescents between the years of 2009 and 2010. The mean age of the participants was 14.4 years, the sample was divided equally by gender and 81 percent of the participants identified themselves as non-Hispanic white.
The research team looked at variables such as " height and weight; consumption frequency for sports drinks, energy drinks, and breakfast; time spent engaged in physical activity, playing video games, and watching television; and smoking status," the news release reported.
The team found energy drink consumption was linked to higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous exercise, but it was also associated with a number of unhealthy behaviors.
"Among boys, weekly sports drink consumption was significantly associated with higher TV viewing; boys who regularly consumed sports drinks spent about one additional hour per week watching TV compared with boys who consumed sports drinks less than once per week," lead author Nicole Larson, PhD, MPH, RDN, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, said in the news release. As another example, "boys who consumed energy drinks at least weekly spent approximately four additional hours per week playing video games compared to those who consumed energy drinks less than once per week."
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that adolescents should only consume energy drinks after "vigorous, prolonged activity," the news release reported. Future research could help researchers gain insight into the behaviors associated with energy drink consumption.
