TITLE:
Violent and Risk-Taking Behaviors Associated with Intake of Energy Drinks Mixed with Alcohol and Perceptions of This Consumption among Children and Adolescents in Costa Rica
AUTHORS:
Núñez-Rivas Hilda, Holst-Schumacher Ileana, Campos-Saborío Natalia
KEYWORDS:
Energy Drinks, Energy-Alcohol Mix Drinks, Children, Adolescents, Costa Rica
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.11 No.8,
August
28,
2020
ABSTRACT: Introduction: The consumption of energy drinks and its mix with
alcohol has been associated with negative and violent behaviors in youngsters. Objective: To determine the risk-taking behaviors associated with the consumption of
energy drinks mixed with alcohol in Costa Rican adolescents. Methods: A mixed
cross-sectional study was performed with a population of 2667 students of 64
educative centers in 2016. Descriptive statistics were performed with the
program SPSS 20.0 and a value of p 0.05 was
considered significant. Results: The third part of the study population is usually a consumer of energy
drinks (30%) and 3% make use of drinks mixed with alcohol. The children and
adolescents, who consume energy-alcohol mixed drinks, are more likely to
present risk-taking behaviors than those who do not consume these mixed
beverages: combined use of medicines to get high; cocaine consumption,
consumption of cement/glue, consumption of marijuana, physical violence
(fighting), use of weapons, suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm, low
educational expectation, sexual intercourses, cyberbullying and school apathy. The
students perceived the intake of energy beverages as of low risk for their
health. They also agree that frequent consumption is because drinks have good
flavors and nice logo designs and the ability to stay awake and with more
energy for longer periods of time in order to improve in academic homework,
sports performance and to endure more the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Conclusions: Public health policies should consider controlling the publicity aimed to
children and adolescents regarding the marketing of energy and alcoholic drinks.