Abstract
Objectives
To explore adolescents' attitudes and beliefs toward the consumption of caffeinated
beverages and factors influencing their caffeinated beverage choice and consumption
patterns.
Design
Twenty focus groups were conducted with grades 9 to 12 secondary school students.
Setting
Two secondary schools in London, Ontario, Canada.
Participants
This study included 166 adolescents, 42% of whom were male and 72% of whom were in
grades 9 and 10.
Phenomenon of Interest
Adolescent views regarding caffeine and caffeinated beverages.
Analysis
Three researchers independently conducted inductive content analysis on the data using
the principles of the immersion-crystallization method.
Results
Awareness levels regarding types of caffeinated beverages and their negative health
effects were high in adolescents whereas awareness of other aspects of caffeine itself
and recommended consumption levels were low. Adolescents also identified reasons for
caffeine use, including providing energy, taste, accessibility, and image enhancement.
Influences for caffeine use most noted by participants included parental role modeling,
media and advertising, and social norms.
Conclusions and Implications
Further education is needed to correct the misconceptions adolescents have regarding
certain aspects of caffeine. By gaining a deeper understanding of adolescents' caffeine
use, effective educational strategies may be developed to reduce its use and mitigate
potential harms.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
December 5,
2015
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
