Consumption, awareness and preference of taurine-containing drinks

초록

Background : Recently taurine-containing drink(TCD) has been consumed for stress relief and fatigue recovery in Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the consumption, awareness and preference of TCD in Korean female high school students. Methods : Subjects of this cross-sectional study were 335 female high school students (98 in 1th grade, 108 in 2th grade, 129 in 3th grade) residing in Incheon, Korea. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The chi-square test was performed for determination of significant differences. Statistical analysis were performed using SPSS 20.0 for Windows. Results : Among the subjects, 74.3% consumed TCD while 25.7% did not. In the subjects, 66.9% of TCD consumer group drank it once per two or three months and also mostly consumed it during the examination period (57.1%). Place of TCD consumption were home (44.5%) and school/private education institute (27.6%). The reasons for consumption of TCD were shown to stay awaken (64.9%), to recover from fatigue (13.7%), and to have good taste (11.7%) in order. Also 29.8% of TCD consumer group answered that they had improvement for learning-ability and concentration by drinking TCD. According to the grade, there were significant differences in degree of interest in TCD and degree of harmfulness to the body by drinking TCD (p<0.05). About 75% of all the subjects perceived TCD as an energy drink for fatigue recovery. As for awareness, Vita 500(18.6%), Hot Six(18.6%), and Bacchas(18.4%) was in order. As for preference, Vita 500(33.3%), Bacchas(26.8%), and Hot Six(20.4%) was in order. Although subjects preferred Vita 500 as a caffeine-free TCD, they answered that the most ingredients in the TCD were caffeine (80.8%), taurine (12.3%), and vitamin (4.8%) in order. Conclusions : These results show most subjects consumed TCD for staying awaken during the examination period. Therefore, it is needed to provide nutrition education for high sc