Individual, Social, and Environmental Correlates of Energy Drink Use Among Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlates of adolescent energy drink (ED) use using a socioecological approach to inform future interventions. METHODS: In 2017-2018, 3,688 students attending 25 randomly selected Western Australian secondary schools completed a self-report survey. A backward stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to construct a model of the most significant individual (n = 12), social (n = 3), and environmental (n = 4) factors associated with being an ED user (ie, past month ED use). RESULTS: Overall, 18% of participants were ED users. The factors significantly associated with being an ED user included being male (P < 0.001), having a higher disposable income (P < 0.001), perceiving EDs as good for health (P = 0.009), perceiving EDs as safe for someone their age to drink (P < 0.001), having a sensation-seeking personality (P = 0.011), having friends who drink EDs (P < 0.001), having parents who would give them an ED if asked (P < 0.001), and having EDs available at home (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Initiatives to reduce ED intake among adolescents need to be multifaceted, addressing individual, social, and environmental factors. It is also important that educational interventions target both parents and adolescents.

Maternal Folic Acid Supplementation during Pregnancy and Childhood Allergic Disease Outcomes: A Question of Timing?

Since the early 1990s, maternal folic acid supplementation has been recommended prior  to and during the first trimester of pregnancy, to reduce the risk of infant neural tube defects. In  addition, many countries have also implemented the folic acid fortification of staple foods, in order  to promote sufficient intakes amongst women of a childbearing age, based on concerns surrounding  variable dietary and supplementation practices. As many women continue to take folic acid  supplements beyond the recommended first trimester, there has been an overall increase in folate  intakes, particularly in countries with mandatory fortification. This has raised questions on the  consequences for the developing fetus, given that folic acid, a methyl donor, has the potential to  epigenetically modify gene expression. In animal studies, folic acid has been shown to promote an  allergic phenotype in the offspring, through changes in DNA methylation. Human population  studies  have  also  described  associations  between  folate  status  in  pregnancy  and  the  risk  of  subsequent childhood allergic disease. In this review, we address the question of whether ongoing  maternal folic acid supplementation after neural tube closure, could be contributing to the rise in  early life allergic diseases.

Public Concern about the Sale of High-Caffeine Drinks to Children 12 Years or Younger: An Australian Regulatory Perspective.

BACKGROUND: Dietary exposure to high caffeine is a health risk for children. Governments are considering measures to restrict the sale of formulated caffeinated beverages (FCB) to children. Objectives. To investigate community concern about sales of high-caffeine drinks to children among Western Australian adults and describe Australian and New Zealand regulatory processes regarding FCB. METHODS: Data from the 2009 and 2012 Department of Health's Nutrition Monitoring Survey Series of 2,832 Western Australians aged 18-64 years was pooled with descriptive and ordinal logistic regression analysis performed. Current regulatory processes for FCB are reported. RESULTS: Most (85%) participants were concerned about the sale of high-caffeine drinks to children; 77.4% were very concerned in 2012 compared to 66.5% in 2009, p < .008. Females and those living with children had higher concern (odds ratio (OR) 2.11; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.44-3.10; OR 2.16; 95% CI 1.51-3.09, resp., p < .001). Concern increased with each year of age (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.02, 1.05, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Community concern regarding sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children is high and increasing. Being female and living with children were associated with greater concern. These findings support the Australian and New Zealand regulatory controls of FCB, including labelling, promotion, and advertising to children.