ABSTRACT
To study the preference, awareness, and percentage consumption of health drinks and energy drinks among University students in Ajman, UAE. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 125 Gulf Medical University Students. Self-administered structured questionnaires were used for data collection. Data and statistical analysis was done using SPSS version 11.0. Chi square test was used to detect significant differences between frequencies. It was found that 92% of the students take energy drink while only 8% take health drinks. Among the energy drinkers, 95% preferred the brand 'Red bull' while only 5% preferred 'Effect'. Among the health drinkers takes it regularly at least once a day but energy drinkers take at least 2 cans per day. It was found that 64% of the students start taking health drinks from the age of 3-5 yrs. And more than 92% of students start taking energy drinks from 15yrs onwards. It was also observed that 72% of the students were influenced by advertisements in television and retail outlay. Around 85% of energy drinkers thought that it would enhance their brain development while 10% preferred it due to its taste. 5% thought that it would increase their height. Majority of the students [95%] were ignorant about the high calorie and caffeine content in these energy drinks. From the survey and the data analysis, it was observed that the majority of students preferred energy drinks over health drinks. Students thought that energy drinks can boost their mental energy. One can of an energy drink contain more than 80 mg of caffeine. As a result, energy drinkers may experience adverse effects of overuse like headache, irritability, inability to concentrate, drowsiness, insomnia, etc. It is also important to note that 'Red Bull' had been banned in France for a decade due to health department's concerns about high caffeine and sugar content, glucuronlactone and taurine, an aminoacid the company claims can actively stimulates body metabolism and mental alertness. Therefore, proper health education regarding nutritional benefits as well as adverse effects of energy drinks should be taught to the students at the entry level in the University