Caffeine Intake is Associated with Lifestyle Factors and Measures of Perceived Health in US Children: Findings from NHANES 2007–2012
Authors: Ahluwalia Naman , Frenk Steven M. 
Published: November 2023

Caffeine intake has been associated with certain health‐risk behaviors. We examined the association of caffeine consumption with specific lifestyle factors i.e. TV watching and physical activity (PA), as well as measures of perceived health in a nationally representative sample of 2–19 yolds who participated in NHANES 2007–12 (n=6410). Caffeine intake from food and beverages was estimated using the USDA's automated multi‐pass method (AMPM)from a 24‐hr dietary recall collected during the NHANES examination. Questionnaire data for 2–11 y olds on TV watching (n=5714, NHANES 2007–12) and physical activity (n=3989, NHANES 2009–12)were analyzed. Data for 12–19 y old (n=3421) on self‐rated health and number of days they felt anxious over the past month (n=3421) were also examined (NHANES 2007–12). Logarithmic transformed data for caffeine were used for testing hypotheses as they were consistent with normality. Median and inter quartile range (25th and 75th percentiles) are presented for all comparisons. Seventy one percent of children ages 2–19 y consumed caffeine on a given day. Median caffeine intakes for 2–5, 6–11 and 12–19 y olds, overall, were 2, 5, and 17 mg, respectively, and 5, 11, and 45 mg, respectively, for children who consumed caffeine (caffeine consumers). Among caffeine consumers, caffeine intake was positively associated with TV watching; median (25th–75th percentile) caffeine intake among caffeine consumers with TV watching >=2 hr versus <2 hr/d was 9 (3–32) and 6 (3–19) mg/d, respectively (P=0.002). Caffeine intake was inversely associated with PA; median (25th–75th percentile) caffeine intake for caffeine consumers with PA >=1 hr versus <1 hr/d was 7 (3–22) and 10 (4–26) mg/d, respectively(P=0.02). Negative associations were noted between caffeine intake and measures of perceived health in caffeine consumers; specifically median(25th–75th percentile) caffeine intake for 12–19 y olds who rated their health as fair or poor versus good to excellent were 58 (19–129) and 44 (7–107) mg/d, respectively (P=0.02). Trends were also noted between caffeine intake and number of days of experiencing anxiety over the past month by 12–19 y old caffeine consumers. Caffeine intake was almost twice as high among those reporting > 14 days of anxiety compared to those reporting 1–13 days of anxiety during the past month; median (25th–75thpercentile) for these groups were 78 (29–193) and 42 (7–107) mg/d, respectively(P<0.001). When these analyses were repeated for all children (caffeine consumers and non‐consumers) similar findings were noted for the association of caffeine intake with lifestyle risk factors (more TV watching, less PA). However, among all children caffeine in take was not associated with measures of perceived health. In conclusion, caffeine intake was associated with lifestyle risk factors (more TV watching and less PA) among children ages 2–11 y, as well as poor self‐rated health and anxiety among 12–19 y old caffeine consumers.

Support or Funding Information

This work was not supported by any external funding.