Frequent energy drink consumption ups risk of asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis

People who regularly consume energy drinks are at heightened risk of developing allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), and atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study in Korea.

The authors performed this cross-sectional study using data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey collected from 2015 to 2016 to analyse the association between energy drinks and various allergic diseases in a large representative Korean adolescent population.

In total, 129,809 individuals (aged 12–18 years; 67,056 males) participated and shared about their consumption of energy drinks such as Hot6, Red Bull, and Bacchus. History of asthma, AR, and AD throughout life and in the last 12 months were obtained. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association between the frequency of energy drink consumption and allergic diseases, with adjustments for various covariates.

Significant differences were observed in age, sex, physical activity, obesity, region of residence, economic level, paternal and maternal educational level, smoking, and alcohol consumption in relation to the frequency of energy drink consumption (p<0.001 for each).

Consumption of energy drink at least seven times a week significantly correlated with asthma throughout life (odds ratio [OR], 1.30, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.64; p=0.025), asthma within the last 12 months (OR, 1.65, 95 percent CI, 1.16–2.35; p=0.006), AR within the last 12 months (OR, 1.21, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.44; p=0.030), and AD within the last 12 months (OR, 1.49, 95 percent CI, 1.17–1.90; p=0.001) compared with no consumption in the full-adjusted model.