Longitudinal Associations Between Energy Drink Consumption, Health, and Norm-Breaking Behavior Among Swedish Adolescents

Objectives: To describe the intake of energy drinks (EDs) among a sample ofSwedish adolescents while considering health-related variables, and to investigate thelongitudinal associations between ED consumption, health, and norm-breaking behavior.Longitudinal studies on this topic are scarce.Methods: Questionnaire data were collected in the northern part of Sweden in2010–2011 from 1,622 adolescents in grades 6–9. Analyses were performed using achi-squared test and logistic regression.Results: Seventy-four percent of the boys and 54% of the girls had consumed EDs(P < 0.001). ED consumption was associated with variables related to low health, lowsupport levels, and norm-breaking behavior. The associations were generally strongeramong the girls and the boys who consumed EDs at least once a week. ED consumptionwas a predictor of worse health and norm-breaking behavior 1 year later. Adjusted oddsratios ranged from 1.53 (95% CI: 1.07, 2.20; school-related stress) to 4.88 (95% CI: 2.28,10.43; gaming-related truancy).Conclusions: Health promotion activities benefit from a broad approach but could focuson girls who consume EDs and those boys with the highest consumption levels

On Happiness

What do anthropologists have to say about happiness? For some contributors in this Vital Topics Forum, happiness is a sensory force that colors and shapes human evolution and experience. Others consider happiness, or the lack thereof, to be a faceted reflection of the arrangements in society. All recognize the potential power of human happiness, where a distant memory, fleeting experience, or idealized vision can serve as a driving force in transformative change, prompting individual and collective desire and action to give new meaning, sustain life and livelihood, restore dignity, make peace... to dream again