Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine (1) the energy drink consumption practices among student-athletes, (2) the prevalence and frequency of intake of energy drinks and (3) reasons why athletes consume energy drinks. In the current study, an energy drink is defined as a kind of soft drink, which is usually carbonated and contains caffeine, sugar or other stimulants believed to reduce or prevent fatigue, provide energy, promote alertness and enhance one’s physical performance. Findings of this study will be useful to sports managers and coaches who need to be aware of the consumption

MI-503 practices of their athletes to be able to impart knowledge of the health implications PHA-848125 mouse of excessive intakes of energy drinks and also correct misconceptions regarding the purported benefits of energy drinks. Methods Subjects In this cross-sectional study, the study participants were university student-athletes sampled from seven public universities in Ghana. The respondents completed a questionnaire administered during an inter-university sports competition. Out of the 250 questionnaires which were distributed to the athletes, 180 athletes completed the questionnaire, resulting in a response rate of 72%. Study instrument and data collection The questionnaire was in two parts, the first part assessed the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents

and the second part Selleckchem Rapamycin assessed energy drink consumption practices of the athletes and reasons why students consumed them. The questionnaire which was administered

assessed athletes in the following areas: background information (i.e. age, gender, university affiliation and sports discipline), information on energy drink consumption practices, brands of energy drinks usually consumed and reasons why athletes consumed energy drinks. The researchers explained to the study participants that the investigation was mainly aimed at assessing how and why energy drinks were consumed, a situation that had not been studied comprehensively among student- athletes in Ghana and that the findings would serve as a basis to plan and implement nutritional and health educational programmes for student-athletes. To ensure compliance and allay any kind of anxiety, the introduction informed students that all responses will be treated with great confidentiality and the data was solely for research purposes. Statistical analysis Data see more collected were entered and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) programme, version 16.0. Descriptive statistics were run to summarize the data collected and the results were displayed in frequencies and percentages. Differences between males and females in respect of frequency of intake were also assessed by conducting a Chi-Square test.