Coffee Culture- Are female university students aware of the nutritional content of popular coffee drinks (mocha, cappuccino, latte, frappe etc.) and how often are they consumed? – Survey of adult female university students.

Abstract

(1.1) Background Global research has shown that the coffee industry, including coffee shops and franchises, has grown significantly over the last decade. Most research in this field has been conducted amongst American populations, typically focusing on health effects of coffee consumption. There is limited research exploring growing coffee consumption amongst UK populations, including nutritional knowledge and factors influencing rising consumption trends. (1.2) Methods A cross sectional survey of UK female university students aged between 18 and 51 years. Questionnaires were distributed to suitable participants using a snowball sampling method to collect quantitative data. (1.3) Results A total of 44 participants were recruited and completed the questionnaire. The largest portion of respondents were full time students (97.73%, n=43), with 70.45% aged 18- 24 years (n=31). The most popular drink choice was teas and flavoured teas (n=14, 31.82%, p=0.853), followed by hot chocolate (n=12, 27.27%) and latte (n=12, 27.27%). Factors commonly influencing beverage choice include taste (n=32, 72.73%), time of day (n=26, 59.09%), level of tiredness (n=26, 59.09%) and beverage cost (n=26, 59.09%). Overall, participant (n=44) accuracy for matching calorie and sugar content to the correct beverage was 44.33%, however participant’s accuracy was higher when matching sugar content (47.73%) compared to calorie content (40.91%). 4 (1.4) Conclusions The results suggest female UK university students have a better awareness of coffee based beverages sugar content compared to calorie content, however nutritional knowledge could be further improved. The results also suggest that environmental and personal factors influence beverage choice more so than nutritional factors.