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Association of caffeine and caffeine metabolites with obesity among children and adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2014

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Abstract

The effect of caffeine exposure on children’s health remains poorly understood. We aimed to characterize the associations of caffeine and caffeine metabolites with adiposity outcomes among children and adolescents. We performed cross-sectional analyses of 1,447 children and adolescents aged 6–19 years from the 2009–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The linear regression and weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression were used to explore the associations of urinary caffeine and 14 caffeine metabolites with adiposity outcomes, including body mass index (BMI) z-score, waist circumference (WC), obesity, and overweight. In linear regression models, compared with the participants who consumed low caffeine, higher BMI z-score, WC, and risks of obesity and overweight were more likely among those who consumed high caffeine (P < 0.05). In WQS regression models, an interquartile range increase in the weighted caffeine index was significantly associated with increased BMI z-score (β = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.01, 0.17) and WC (β = 1.20, 95% CI = 0.31, 2.09), and risks of obesity (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.02, 1.17). Totally, no modification effect of age or gender was observed in the linear regression model. Nonetheless, in WQS models, the positive associations of caffeine exposure with WC and risks of obesity and overweight were significant in children aged 6–11 years rather than 12–19 years. When stratified by gender, caffeine exposure was significantly associated with BMI z-score and WC in both boys and girls. These results add novel evidence that caffeine exposure might be associated with adverse adiposity outcomes among children and adolescents.

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Author notes

  1. Bin Wang, Meng Yang, and Weihong Chen contributed equally to this article.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China

    Linling Yu, Xing Wang, Man Cheng, Lieyang Fan, Yang Xiao, Ruyi Liang, Bin Wang & Weihong Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, Hubei, China

    Linling Yu, Xing Wang, Man Cheng, Lieyang Fan, Yang Xiao, Ruyi Liang, Bin Wang & Weihong Chen

  3. Wuhan Children’s Hospital (Wuhan Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital), Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430016, Hubei, China

    Hong Mei & Meng Yang

  4. Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Da Shi

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  1. Linling Yu
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  2. Hong Mei
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  3. Da Shi
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Contributions

L. Yu researched data and wrote the manuscript. H. Mei and D. Shi reviewed the manuscript. X. Wang, M. Cheng, L. Fan, and Y. Xiao contributed to the data acquisition, discussion and edited the manuscript. B. Wang, M. Yang, and W. Chen conceived and designed this study, researched data, and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weihong Chen.

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The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey protocol was approved by the National Center for Health Statistics Ethics Review Board and written informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya

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Yu, L., Mei, H., Shi, D. et al. Association of caffeine and caffeine metabolites with obesity among children and adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009–2014. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 57618–57628 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19836-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19836-1

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