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Doctors warn kids and teens to stay away from energy drinks
As sales of energy drinks soar, pediatricians warn that kids and teens should steer clear.
Thu, Jun 02 2011 at 8:00 AM
Photo: DRB62/Flickr
In a new report, published in the journal Pediatrics, a large numbers of doctors have joined together to urge kids and teens to stay away from energy drinks.
Dr. Holly Benjamin of the American Academy of Pediatrics and one of the contributors to the report noted, "Children never need energy drinks. They contain caffeine and other stimulant substances that aren't nutritional, so you don't need them."
The big concern, according to Benjamin, is that kids' growing bodies may be more vulnerable to the caffeine and other ingredients in energy drinks than grown-ups. "If you drink them on a regular basis, it stresses the body," Benjamin told Reuters Health. "You don't really want to stress the body of a person that's growing."
An even bigger concern is that kids and teens seem to be the target market for these drinks. U.S. sales of non-alcoholic energy drinks are expected to hit $9 billion this year, with children and young adults accounting for half the market.
Red Bull released a statement in response to the new report stating, "The effects of caffeine are well-known and as an 8.4 oz can of Red Bull contains about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee (80 mg), it should be treated accordingly."
So would you give a child a cup of coffee? Probably not. How about a teen? Maybe, but it may not be the best thing for them.
What do you think? Would you let your child or teenager drink an energy drink?
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Do sports energy drinks like Lucozade Sports & Powerade fall into this same category? My children aged 12 & 7 yrs both use the Lucozade drink for when playing football.
The problem with Red Bull's claim is that caffeine is only part of the problem with energy drinks. They still have empty calories (or if it's the diet version, artificial sweeteners). Coffee has very few calories in it-- unless you add a lot of stuff to it.
If it was just the caffeine, I think it would be fine in moderation for older teenagers. But I stay away from energy drinks because they make me jittery and coffee doesn't.
in my personal experience i have come find that energy drinks work. I love those 5 hour energy shots. How bad are those for people?
Coffee isn't bad at all in moderation, in fact it's been shown to lower the risk of prostate cancer.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/06/02/can-coffee...
Energy drinks, on the other hand, have NO nutritional value.
If you really think they are beneficial in any way, you might want to consider looking into what's in those 'drinks'.
My dad drank coffee almost all day every day, he still got prostate cancer.