Science & Research | Original Contribution 58 Ernaehrungs Umschau international | 4/2014 Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: October 14, 2013 | Revision accepted: December 17, 2013 Development of a tool to assess the cafeine intake among teenagers and young adults Erika Bühler, Sigmaringen; Dirk W. Lachenmeier, Stuttgart; Katharina Schlegel, Gertrud Winkler, Sigmaringen Introduction Many foods and beverages con- tain caffeine. Caffeine is consumed because it may stimulate the central nervous system, which contributes to an increased alertness and atten- tion. Sensitive adults and children in particular may suffer from various side effects due to caffeine, e.g., rest- lessness, dizziness, heart and pulse palpitation, vomiting and sleep dis- turbances [1, 2]. Currently, the following recom- mendations for caffeine intake are communicated in Germany: For adults there is no objection to mode- rate consumption of no more than 350 mg caffeine/day [3]. Pregnant women should not consume more than 300 mg of caffeine/day [1, 4]. Caffeinated beverages should be completely avoided in a child’s diet [5]. Recommandations on acceptable levels for adolescents are not provi- ded. Health Canada has recommen- ded a maximum caffeine intake level of 2.5 mg/kg of body weight/day for children aged up to 12 years [6]. The fastest growing consumer group of caffeine in the last 30 years is children and adolescents [2]. Du- ring this time, coffee, caffeinated soft drinks and energy drinks have become increasingly popular. Ado- lescents are the main target group for many ready-to-drink coffee beverages and energy drinks. The consumption of energy drinks sig- nifcantly increased in 2012 [7]. Previous research into caffeine in- take [8–10] has demonstrated that, in spite of the dynamic market growth, there is little data on caf- feine intake among children and adolescents. Only the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently investigated the consump- tion of energy drinks in Europe and included the overall caffeine intake of 3 to 10 year-old children and 10 to 18 year-old adolescents [11]. Question Our objective was to develop a self-completion questionnaire to as- sess caffeine intake in a fexible sur- vey period that could be understood by adolescents and young adults [12] and to test it on students [13]. Methodology Development of the survey tool Initially, the tools and methods previ- ously used for surveys of the overall caffeine intake among children, ado- lescents and young adults were re- viewed [12, 13]. In spring 2012, the range of caffein- ated foods and beverages and their usual portion sizes were researched for the survey tool. From this data, food groups were formed which had comparable caffeine content and were logically related in terms of consumer perception. Each group was assigned with everyday descriptions and aver- age caffeine intakes as previously analysed at the CVUA Karlsruhe (Chemisches und Veterinäruntersu- chungsamt [Chemical and Veteri- nary Investigation Offce]) [8, 9, 10, 14, 15]. Caffeinated sports nutrition products, dietary supplements and Citation: Bühler E, Lachenmeier DW, Schle- gel K, Winkler G (2013) Develop- ment of a tool to assess the caf- feine intake among teenagers and young adults. Ernahrungs Umschau 61(4): 58–63 This article is available online: DOI 10.4455/eu.2014.011 Summary For the frst time, a tool (questionnaire with calculation programme) to assess the caffeine intake among adolescents and young adults has been developed and validated. It has proved to be applicable in surveys of more than 200 students. The average workday caffeine intake was between 105 mg and 130 mg. Coffee was the major source. Keywords: caffeine, caffeine intake, energy drinks, survey tool, coffee beverages Beleg/Autorenexemplar! Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Dies gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverflmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronische Systeme.