top of page
ahc1004

Caffeine in College: An Epidemic or Necessity

I started conducting research on how much caffeine an average college student consumes on a daily basis. I then took this data to compare to adults and used secondary research to see the effects over-consumption of caffeine may have on developing brains. To my shock, college students are on the verge of addiction and other disorders to their caffeine consumption alone, which they fail to recognize.



This is a simple bar graph to showcase how much more caffeine college students consume per day as opposed to adults. Keep in mind the average consumption of caffeine should be around 135 mg of caffeine and the safest amount to consumer is 400 mg.



The next step is to determine how much caffeine each gender consumes. This data does not represent the entirety of how much caffeine is shown daily. This is because during social occasions, women and men experience upwards of a 29% increase in caffeine on weekends or social occasions.




Here I interview a student talking about statistics. Cayden Walker is an individual who does not consume caffeine himself and is shocked by the information. In an interview with another student, Hannah Major, I needed to collect more personal data relevant to SRU. She claims she needs coffee everyday to get anything done. Between her friends and herself, she thinks she consumes at least 5 cups of coffee a day, but on weekends it increases.


"I wouldn't know how to function without coffee," Hannah said. "It is the only drink I can have by my side when doing any kind of schoolwork."



So what is the effect on the human body because of this caffeine consumption. There is a correlation to how much caffeine is consumed to eating disorders. Using data specific to college students (female) it is shown that the amount of caffeine consumed is an indication of an eating disorder. Females who consume above 500 mg of caffeine typically are diagnosed with Bulimia later in life, while those who consume less than 500 mg of caffeine get diagnosed with a Binge Eating Disorder. Keep in mind these results are due to daily intake over the course of 15 years, where addiction to caffeine is prevalent,


To conclude, students have an association between caffeine and social life or schoolwork. Doubling the safest amount for an adult to consume, caffeine is an addiction where students cannot function without consumption. Due to these studies, Eating disorders become more prevalent in the future.


9 views

Recent Posts

See All

College: The Root of Caffeine Addiction

It is reported that the average college student drinks 176 mg of caffeine a day. Judging from a personal perspective, I know about 90% of...

Comments


bottom of page