Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Haleama Al Sabbah
AcceptedAbstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
This study describes the patterns of energy drinks consumption and associated factors among a University students in Palestine. A cross-sectional study was conducted at An-Najah National University in Nablus, West Bank-Palestine. The study included 279 students of three colleges: Medicine, Physical Education, and Engineering. Data were collected using a 25-item selfadministered questionnaire. All data analysis were performed using SPSS software version 17. Energy-drink consumption was significantly higher among male students, as 80.5% of energy-drink users involved in this study were males. It was higher among those with higher monthly expenditure. More than half (61.5% ) of smokers included in this study have ever tried using energy drinks. The most common cause for using energy drinks among users was to stay awake at night (68.6%), while most of those who never tried energy drinks in their lives didn?t do so because they thought energy drinks are unhealthy. About two thirds (64.4%) of the participants didn?t know the main constituents of energy drinks and about half (53.6%) stated that they knew that there might be side effects associated with the use of energy drinks. More than half of the current users (56.8%) consumed less than 1 bottle/day. The most common side effect faced by users was palpitations, encountered by 29.5% of current users. Energy-drink usage is common among university students in Palestine. Campaigns should be encouraged in order to spread awareness about the contents and possible side effects of energy drinks.
Haleama Al Sabbah has completed her Ph.D in 2008 from Gent University-Belgium and currently she is a Fulbright Visiting Scholar doing Post- Doctoral studies in Nutrition at Tufts University, Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Center. She is the director of Public Health and Nutrition Departments at the Faculty of Medicine, An-Najah University, West Bank-Palestine. She has many published articles in scientific journals and serving as an editorial board member and reviewer for many scientific journals. She participated in many conferences, courses and research studies in all over the world including Europe, USA, Canada, West Africa and some Arab countries.