Knowledge and prevalence of energy drinks consumption in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional survey of adolescents

Background In recent years, energy drinks (EDs) have been widely used among young people around the world. The extensive use of EDs also affects the sleep and exercise of adolescents.Aims This study aimed to investigate the consumption of EDs, the knowledge, attitude towards EDs and associated factors of EDs consumption among adolescents in Shanghai, China.Methods A total of 4608 adolescents completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing EDs use history, knowledge and attitude towards EDs. Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC) was used to assess their life events. All participants were divided into two groups based on whether they used them or not. t-test and χ2 test were used to compare the differences between the two groups, and binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the related factors for EDs consumption.Results 70.5% of the participants reported having ever used EDs. The main avenues to getting information on EDs were from advertisements. 67.56% of them believed that EDs had adverse effects on health. 22.09% of the participants and 31.55% of their parents took a negative attitude towards EDs. Compared with the non-consumption group, participants in the consumption group were likely to be male, with older age, identified EDs more correctly and did not believe EDs had adverse effects, with more positive attitude and higher ASLEC score. Logistic regression results showed that gender, age, attitude of parents and themselves, knowledge of EDs and ASLEC score significantly predicted EDs consumption.Conclusion EDs consumption was popular among adolescents in Shanghai, and the tailored intervention programmes need to be developed based on the characteristics of adolescents.