Link between Energy Drinks and Behavior
Researchers from the Duke University and University of Minnesota and conducted a study and discovers a link between regular intake of sports and energy drinks and greater intake of other sweet drinks, smoking and use of screen media.
The high glucose, calorie and caffeine content of sports and energy beverages is an area of worry for health care experts 
and these drinks have experienced a rise in reputation in latest years. National data have proven that although there has been a drop in intake of soft drinks and fruit drinks, sports and energy liquids have tripled in intake among teenagers.
The scientists behind the new research – which is publicized in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior – collected data from 2,793 teenagers over 20 public middle and high schools in the 2009-10 school year.
The students revealed data on their height, weight, how frequently they drink sports and energy beverages, how often they eat morning meal, how much physical exercise they do regularly , how much time they invest enjoying video games and watching TV, and whether or not they smoke.
Regardless of consumption of sports beverages being connected to higher levels of average to vigorous physical exercise, overall, the scientists identified that intake of sports and energy drinks leads to an increasing cluster of harmful behaviors among teenagers.
The study discovers a association between smoking, high intake of other sugary liquids, and extended time watching TV or actively playing video games with weekly sports and energy drinks intake.
Lead author Nicole Larson, describes:
“Among young boys, weekly sports drink consumption was significantly related with higher TV watching; guys who regularly take sports drinks spent about 1 more hour per week viewing TV, in comparison with boys who taken sports drinks less than 1s per week.
Boys who taken energy drinks at least weekly spent roughly 4 additional hours per week actively playing video games, in comparison with those who taken energy drinks less than once per week.”
Dr. Larson and her group say that additional study and interventions should do more to promote healthy hydration habits in teenagers and focus on the clustering of behaviors that current health threat to youth.