Abstract

PREVALENCE OF ENERGY DRINKS CONSUMPTION AND ITS CORRELATION WITH THE INCIDENCE OF INCREASED BLOOD PRESSURE LEVELS AMONG DIPLOMA STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

Noman D. Salih*

ABSTRACT

Energy drinks thought commonly to be very efficient and safe for consumption without any health problems or side effects, but many recent reports have mentioned that those energy drinks are extremely detrimental. This study has designed to investigate the prevalence and frequency of energy drinks consumption among college students at Diploma levels, and their prospected correlation with higher blood pressure levels. 120 diploma students were involved in this study (54 male and 66 female), aged 18-23 years old, selected randomly among students of 1st to 5th semesters study. Survey questionnaires were distributed and a simple briefing has given to help them to answer questions accurately. Blood pressure measurement from each participant has taken twice, before and after completing the questionnaire. Data tabulated and analysed using SPSS software. Results indicated several market brands of energy drinks that most volunteers usually consume, which are Nescafe (17%), Redbull (12%), Livita (7%), 100 Plus (25%), Monster Energy (10%), M7 Energy (5%), and Revive (24%). Only 13% among all correspondents did not consume any type of energy drinks constantly, while 86.7% used to purchase and consume them regularly, as the averages of 2-3 times daily, 5-8 times weekly, 10 or more times weekly, there were 10%, 61.7%, 15% respectively. Results showed those correspondents believed that energy drinks could help them with their daily duties or especially during practicing certain activities, such as ordinary exercises (21.7%), playing sports (40%), driving (8.3%), stay up until late (23.3%), or refreshments (6.7%). The study concluded that consumption of energy drinks among Unikl Mestech diploma students considered very high, but it still within the safe levels, but there were 10% of all participants having higher levels of blood pressure with high consumption of energy drinks.

Keywords: Energy drinks, Caffeine, Blood Pressure, College Students.