Study warns against energy drinks for kids, teens
A study in Monday's edition of the journal Pediatrics spells out everything you need to know about energy drinks, particularly the risks they pose to the young people who are most inclined to use them. Read it, and you'll never look at those drinks as benign products again.
The study reviews evidence from scientific journals and other publications about energy drinks and any ill effects associated with their use. Though serious adverse effects -- including heart failure -- are apparently relatively rare, it's been hard to track such events in the United States because until recently, there's been no poison-control code to specifically identify events tied to energy drinks. (The study notes that such a code has now been established.)
Caffeine in moderation can provide benefits, enhancing cognition, attention and physical endurance, for instance. But it's not clear to what degree, if any, those benefits extend to young people. Although the FDA limits the amount of caffeine in a soda to 71 mg per 12-ounce serving, energy drinks have so far eluded such restrictions because they are classified as dietary supplements. But the ingredients added to achieve that status are part of what makes energy drinks' potential dangers hard to pin down, as there is little research on their effects.
The Pediatrics paper calls for increased awareness from physicians of their patients' use of energy drinks and the potential health effects (particularly among athletes and children with conditions such as ADHD, diabetes or eating disorders). It also calls for further study of caffeine's effects on young people and of the effects of other energy-drink ingredients such as taurine and guarana. Finally, the authors suggest regulation of energy drinks may be in order if research turns up compelling evidence that the popular beverages cause harm.
I've been on the fence about energy drinks, even as recently as last week, when I blogged about another paper raising awareness of their use and misuse. I'm not big on the government's telling us what we can and can't eat and drink. But in the case of energy drinks -- whose prime audience is young males -- I agree that we should at least know what's in these drinks and what damage they might do if over-consumed.
Jennifer LaRue Huget
| February 15, 2011; 7:00 AM ET
Categories: Cardiovascular Health, Dietary supplements, Family Health, Kids' health, Nutrition and Fitness, Sleep, Teens, heart failure
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