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Nutrition in acute and chronic diseases

Energy-drink consumption is associated with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in Korean adolescents

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 75, pages 1077–1087 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Few studies have evaluated the effects of energy drinks on allergic diseases. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the association between energy drinks and various allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis, in a large representative Korean adolescent population.

Subjects/methods

This cross-sectional study used data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey collected from 2015 to 2016. A total of 129,809 participants (n = 67,056 for males; n = 62,753 for females) aged 12–18 years were included and were asked about their frequency of consumption of energy drinks such as Hot6®, Redbull®, and Bacchus®. Their history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis throughout life and in the last 12 months were obtained. The association between the frequency of energy-drink consumption and allergic diseases was analyzed using multiple logistic regression with adjustment for various covariates.

Results

Age, sex, physical activity, obesity, region of residence, economic level, paternal and maternal educational level, smoking, and alcohol consumption differed significantly according to the frequency of energy-drink consumption (each P < 0.001). Frequent energy-drink consumption (≥7 times a week) was significantly associated with asthma throughout life (odds ratio [OR] = 1.30, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.03–1.64, P = 0.025), asthma within the last 12 months (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.16–2.35, P = 0.006), allergic rhinitis within the last 12 months (OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.02–1.44, P = 0.030), and atopic dermatitis within the last 12 months (OR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.17–1.90, P = 0.001) compared to no energy-drink consumption in the full-adjusted model.

Conclusions

Frequent energy-drink consumption is associated with allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis, in Korean adolescents.

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Fig. 1: A schematic illustration of the participant selection.
Fig. 2: Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for asthma according to the frequency of consumption of caffienated energy drinks.
Fig. 3: Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for allergic rhinitis according to the frequency of consumption of caffienated energy drinks.
Fig. 4: Adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval for atopic dermatitis according to the frequency of consumption of caffienated energy drinks.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation (HGC, Grant number NRF-2018-R1D1A1A02085328) (JHW, grant number NRF-2020-R1G1A1005390); and Hallym University Research Fund (HGC, Grant number HURF 2019-31). The National Research Foundation and Hallym University Research Fund had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea

    Jee Hye Wee, Bumjung Park & Hyo Geun Choi

  2. Hallym Data Science Laboratory, Hallym University College of Medicine, Anyang, Korea

    Chanyang Min & Hyo Geun Choi

  3. Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Chanyang Min

  4. Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, Korea

    Min Woo Park

  5. Department of Otorhinolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Hallym University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Dongtan, Korea

    Il-Seok Park

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Contributions

JHW and MWP drafted the manuscript. CM and HGC acquired the data and performed the analysis. I-SP, BP, and HGC designed the study and provided valuable edits to the manuscript at several stages. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hyo Geun Choi.

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Wee, J.H., Min, C., Park, M.W. et al. Energy-drink consumption is associated with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis in Korean adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 75, 1077–1087 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-00812-2

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