Abstract:
The dual purposes of this study were to find out the extent of energy drink usage and its perceived impact. The study used the survey design in the Ga South District of Greater Accra Region. A total of 584 students from Odorgonno Senior High School, Ngleshi Amanfro Senior High School and Christian Methodist Senior High School participated in the study. A researcher generated questionnaire (JED-Q) was used for the study. A cronbach alpha reliability of .73 was obtained. In general, the overall consumption of energy drink was 273(46.7%). The three most consumed energy drinks were lucozade, blue jeans and gluconade. In addition, 269(46.1%) and 213(36.5%) of the study participants believed that energy drinks helped to improve performance during sports competitions, 252(43.2%) and 121(20.7%) agreed that they reacted more quickly when they consumed energy drinks, 215(36.8%) and 277(47.4%) consumed energy drinks because it gives them energy and 119(20.4%) and 262(44.9%) felt more alert when they consumed energy drinks. Also, 342(58.62%) had low knowledge while 242(41.38%) had high knowledge on energy drinks. Factors predicting energy drink consumption were taste = t (1,582) = 18.91, p < .05 (49%), accessibility = t (1,582) = 17.70, p < .05 (46%) and advert = t (1,582) = 5.54, p < .05 (13%). There was a significant difference in the energy drink consumption on gender χ² (1) = 6.08 p < 0.05. Also, sports player and non-sports players differed significantly in their energy drink consumption.
