Adolescents who consume sports drinks or energy drinks on a weekly basis are more likely to smoke cigarettes, consume sugar-sweetened soft drinks or fruit drinks, and play video games frequently, a study published online this month in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior finds.
The study drew on data from 2,793 students in 20 public middle and high schools from the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., area during the 2009-10 school year. The study population had a mean age of 14.4 years.
Both boys and girls who consumed at least one sports drink or one energy drink per week participated in more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week than did peers who consumed less. However, they also viewed more hours of television per week, played video games more often, drank more sugared sodas and fruit drinks, and were more likely to have tried smoking a cigarette.
