The consumption of soft drinks, even by children, is widespread, and most of these beverages contain caffeine. This caffeine content, along with the inclusion of sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup in caffeinated soda, can have various effects on neurocognitive function and potentially lead to physical side effects.
Excessive consumption of both sugars and caffeine has been extensively documented, and there is a strong link between the consumption of caffeinated beverages during adolescence and future substance use, including alcohol and marijuana. This association is a cause for concern, particularly given the potential progression from consuming caffeinated beverages to more harmful substances.Â
To address the issue, there is a crucial need to explore these relationships as early as possible, as adolescence is the most common period for the initiation of substance use. Early onset of substance use has been linked to greater addiction severity. Therefore, investigating these connections during preadolescence is vital, as it can provide valuable predictive information about future substance use.
Caffeinated soda is the preferred and accessible mode of caffeine intake for preadolescent children. However, few studies have directly examined the effects of frequent caffeinated beverage consumption in preadolescent children, mainly due to their lower rates of consumption compared to adolescents.
Most previous research on the association between caffeine consumption and later substance use has focused on adolescents who consume multiple caffeinated beverages daily. Additionally, while some studies have examined behavioral risk factors associated with caffeinated soda intake, they have not included neural assessments of these risk factors.Â
The study in question utilized data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which included 11,878 children aged 9-10 years from various sites in the United States. The study was conducted with the approval of the Institutional Review Board at the University of California, San Diego, and it involved written assent from the participants and written consent from their parents or guardians.Â
From the initial pool of 11,878 children, those with missing data in various measures, including caffeinated soda intake, neurobehavioral risk factors for substance use disorders (SUDs), future alcohol sipping, and confounding variables, were excluded. Outliers based on caffeinated soda intake measures were also excluded. This process led to the inclusion of 2,092 participants for the main analyses.Â
The researchers aimed to investigate whether caffeinated soda intake during preadolescent childhood is associated with a higher risk of alcohol experimentation in the future. They examined the cross-sectional relationships between daily caffeinated soda intake and well-known neurobehavioral risk factors for SUDs at the study’s baseline.
They also assessed whether caffeinated soda intake at baseline could predict alcohol sipping after 12 months. Machine learning techniques were employed to analyse the data, and the results partially supported the hypothesized association between caffeinated soda intake and neurobehavioral risk factors for SUDs.
Notably, high impulsivity scores and low working memory performance were distinguishing factors between daily caffeinated soda drinkers and non-drinkers, even after considering other potential confounding variables. However, there was no significant association observed for reward processing. This study sheds light on the potential relationship between caffeinated soda consumption in preadolescent children and the risk of future alcohol experimentation.
It underscores the importance of early intervention and awareness regarding the potential consequences of early caffeine consumption and its impact on substance use behaviors in children and adolescents. The study’s findings provide valuable insights that could inform public health initiatives and strategies to reduce the risk of substance use among young individuals.Â
Journal Reference Â
Caffeinated soda intake in children is associated with neurobehavioral risk factors for substance misuse, Substance Use & Misuse (2023). DOI: 10.1080/10826084.2023.2259471.Â
