Georgian Med News. 2025 May;(362):198-203.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Energy drink consumption has increased among college students, but its impact on health measures like body mass index (BMI) is not well understood, particularly in Iraqi populations.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to characterize energy drink intake patterns and investigate associations with BMI among undergraduate students at Alnoor University in Iraq.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 270 students collected data on demographics, energy drink intake frequency, sleep duration, physical activity levels, and measured BMI. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and Fisher’s exact tests analyzed relationships between variables.
RESULTS: Over 45% of students consumed energy drinks, with 9.3% drinking them ≥4 times/week. Males consumed energy drinks more frequently than females (p<0.001). Energy drink intake frequency was not significantly associated with BMI categories (p=0.399) or sleep duration (p=0.632). Half of students slept ≤6 hours/night and 53.7% exercised <1 hour/week. Based on BMI, 35.9% were overweight, 13% obese, and 1.1% morbidly obese.
CONCLUSION: Energy drink consumption was common in this Iraqi college population, especially among males, but was not significantly related to BMI or sleep duration. Students had high rates of overweight/obesity and insufficient sleep and physical activity. Universities should promote healthy lifestyles in this at-risk group.
PMID:40737669
