# Consumption of Energy Drinks among University Students in Eastern Croatia
## 4 Discussion  
This study showed how more than half of our participants (52.4%) consume EDs which is consistent with the results of some studies [11; 16; 30; 31; 32; 33] but higher than reported in some other studies [12; 24; 34; 35; 36; 37; 38; 39; 40; 41]. In opposition to that, higher EDs consumption was discovered among medical and dental students in Nigeria where 80.1% declared themselves as current consumers while 87.8% of them revealed using EDs at least once in their lifetime [31]. Italian university students were also found to consume EDs more than our students (65.0%) [42]. Some studies prove how more than half of the participants have tried EDs at least once [5; 12; 24; 25; 31; 39] as well as studies that confirm how less than half of them have ever consumed this type of drink [43]. In general, this widespread consumption of EDs gives us alarming data considering how the young population is in an extremely sensitive phase of life of physical and psychological development, probably unaware of the possible harmful effects that this consumption can cause. According to our study, those who consume EDs, drink them mainly once a month (59.5%). Most of them declared that they consume 1-5 drinks (81.1%) on monthly basis, similar to some previous findings [29], while some studies have shown a lower frequency of EDs consumption [24; 25]. In addition, our work showed a small prevalence of heavy consumers which is consistent with some other studies [30; 34]. [PERSON] et al. [44] investigated EDs consumption among Australian adolescents and found that more than a third of EDs consumers (36%) had exceeded the recommended daily limit for adults at least once. Given the difference in EDs consumption by gender and the fact that the male population consumes more of these beverages than females, our study is consistent with numerous studies from different countries [11; 12; 16; 24; 25; 30; 31; 35; 38; 39; 45; 46; 47]. [PERSON] et al. [30] investigated the consumption of EDs among Norwegian high school students and reported that there were twice as many consumers of EDs among males than females, which is a greater gender difference in comparison to EDs consumption found in this study. Oppose to those findings, [PERSON] et al. [33] found a greater prevalence of EDs consumption among female college students, while [PERSON] et al. [48] found no significant differences in consumption between male and female high school athletes. This study also showed gender differences in the amount of EDs consumed on one occasion. It was found that males drink significantly more EDs during one consumption than females. Although various research has proven how long-term consumption of EDs can cause adverse effects on human health [49], its excessive consumption on one occasion can be just as harmful [50], if not fatal [6]. If we look at the facts that our students do not consume EDs often, but when they do, they usually drink one can, which is amount to up to 0.5 L, this data should not be ignored. By observing the reasons for the consumption of these products, participants in this study indicated that they consume EDs mostly to stay awake. Some other studies also stated this as the most common reason [12; 25; 33; 51; 52], while others specified taste [24], studying and socializing [35], as well as sport or physical performance [30; 36] as the main motivation for EDs consumption. [PERSON] et al. [53] specified in their meta-analysis increase in energy and relief fatigue, to stay awake or to counter insufficient sleep as well as for concentration during studies as the most common reasons for EDs consumption. These reasons suggest a possible tendency of overconsumption on one occasion just to satisfy those needs. This study revealed that our participants mostly do not read the labels on the EDs (59.9%), which is more significant than found by [PERSON] et al. [16]. Those authors found that 50.7% of undergraduates in Taiwan never read the nutrition labels while 48.7% were unaware of EDs effects.