Consumption of caffeinated Energy Drinks and their symptoms among undergraduate students from Bengaluru Rural District, India: A cross-sectional study

This study aimed to investigate the consumption of EDs and their symptoms among undergraduate students in two degree colleges in Bangalore, India. The data was collected via an online self-administered questionnaire. It consists of three sections to fulfil the study's objectives. Descriptive statistics were used to represent participants' socioeconomic and demographic information, daily habits, consumption of energy drinks, and side effects. The final sample size is 179, but 350 students from various higher secondary schools were initially enrolled in this study. 51.14% of the 179 undergraduate degree students who participated in this survey responded. Since a 171 undergraduate students expressed no interest in participating in our study. The primary reason why 76.53% of participants in our study drank caffeinated EDs was to refresh their moods. The majority of students (52.51) drank one can per week. For one year, almost the same amount of students take caffeinated EDs. Half of the students used alcohol, while the majority of students (60.33%) smoked. Of all students, 56.98% and 57.54%, respectively, had irregular sleep patterns. The majority of research participants (90.39%) reported experiencing particular symptoms after consuming energy drinks, as Table 3 illustrates. 30.16% experienced acidity, sleep deprivation (20.67%), headache (11.73%), omitting (5.09), elevated heart rate (32.96%), stomach pain (8.37%), and stress (10.61%), whereas 10.61% had no symptoms. The findings of this study suggested that college students' desire to try new things, stress from examinations, and parties are all contributing to the rise of caffeinated EDs in the diet, which is harmful to their health. These issues should be considered when developing regulations to safeguard young people from the health consequences and side effects of energy drinks.