Frequent energy-drink consumption tied to asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis

Regular consumption of energy drinks may lead to allergic diseases, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis, according to a cross-sectional study in Korea.

The authors used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey collected from 2015 to 2016. A total of 129,809 participants (aged 12–18 years; 67,056 males) responded and reported about their frequency of consumption of energy drinks such as Hot6, Redbull, and Bacchus.

The authors then obtained the participants’ history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis throughout life and in the last 12 months. They analysed the association between the frequency of energy-drink consumption and allergic diseases using multiple logistic regression with adjustment 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 based on the frequency of energy-drink consumption (p<0.001 for each).

In the fully adjusted model, frequent energy-drink consumption, compared to no intake, 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), allergic rhinitis within the last 12 months (OR, 1.21, 95 percent CI, 1.02–1.44; p=0.030), and atopic dermatitis within the last 12 months (OR, 1.49, 95 percent CI, 1.17–1.90; p=0.001).