QUINCY (WGEM) – Energy drinks come in brightly colored cans with fruit and candy flavors, and are growing in popularity among youth.
However, energy drinks are not the same as your morning cup of coffee.
While relatively new to the market, energy drinks are readily available and more common than you may think. A Johns Hopkins study finds almost one-third of teenagers, aged 12 to 17, drink energy drinks regularly.
“They like energy drinks. They like lotus drinks. They like Carter’s and Starbucks and all of those things, especially around here they seem to be exploding in popularity,” said Jean Kinder, director of Quincy Public Schools Food Services.
Many kids these days have swapped their parents’ soda for a new caffeine kick.
Energy drinks are easily accessible and readily available in gas stations, grocery stores and schools. Also, there are no state or federal regulations on caffeine being served to kids.
Kinder said the district does try to limit the amount of caffeine they serve students. She said the energy drinks they sell contain roughly the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.
“We only let them buy one of those drinks,” Kinder said. “We are not going to let a child walk out with two or three Kickstarts because we don’t know, maybe they plan on drinking them together or all at one time and that wouldn’t be safe.”
“I see it all the time,” said Gary Hackmann, athletic trainer for the Quincy Medical Group. “At least in every sport, there’s at least one kid doing it.”
Hackmann spends a lot of time with student athletes. He said he commonly sees young athletes turn to energy drinks, sometimes more than one, for an added energy boost.
“A lot of these kids are just going on their own and buying whatever they think is either popular or what they like without any consultation, or parents don’t know either what’s going on a lot of the times,” Hackmann said. “Kids are just taking them willy-nilly and hoping for the best.”
Hackmann said while players hope for a pick-me-up before practice or a game, instead energy drinks often create adverse consequences.
“Either they have lack of focus or they have some issues with muscle cramps or they are taking it at the wrong time, and so then their play is going downhill instead of peaking at the right time,” Hackmann explained.
The problem can go way beyond less than peak performance.
“Energy drinks are very dangerous and could lead to life threatening arrhythmia, can raise your blood pressure, can even cause cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death,” said Dr. Wissam Derian, QMG cardiologist.
Dr. Derian has seen first hand the impact energy drinks can have on kids’ heart health.
“I have seen several kids with cardiac arrhythmia that we should not see at their age,” said Dr. Derian. “Also, I have seen kids with high blood pressure from energy drinks. Fortunately, I have not seen any kid who had cardiac arrest, but this always could happen at any time.”
To understand why energy drinks can be so dangerous, it’s important to understand what’s in them. The CDC recommends 100 mg or less per day of caffeine for 12 to 18-year-olds, compared to 400 mg or less for adults. The FDA says an 8 ounce cup of coffee averages 95 milligrams of caffeine. Some energy drinks contain as much as 300 milligrams per can. And that’s just the caffeine.
“The problem is not only the caffeine, it’s several stimulants that are present in the energy drinks including taurine, ephedrine, and other products,” explained Dr. Derian.
There’s also the high amount of sugar many contain.
“Added sugars we are really trying to keep, I always say, roughly around 30 grams or less and a lot of these have 45, 60, quite a bit more than that,” said Brittany Winship, QMG registered dietitian. “It can cause that quick energy, but it usually only lasts about 30 minutes and then you crash, which is when people then go ahead and grab another energy drink. So, it’s a cycle.”
Similar to supplements, energy drinks are not FDA regulated. Winship said that leaves some question about what’s really in the can.
“The FDA really only looks into them if there is cause for concern, so they’ve had a lot of complaints,” Winship said. “So, we don’t really know how accurate what they are listing in them is. Is it truly what’s in there?”
Dr. Derian said it’s important parents know kids are more susceptible to the mix of potentially dangerous ingredients in energy drinks for several reasons. A lower body weight means a higher concentration of stimulants, their developing cardiovascular systems are more sensitive, and…
“Kids are more engaged in risk behaviors, so they might mix energy drinks with alcohol,” said Dr. Derian. “They might mix them with other stimulants or drugs and that would potentiate the side effects and the risk of cardiac arrhythmias.”
“They worry sometimes about the high caffeine with brain development, as well,” said Winship.
Kinder said energy drinks can even impact kids on an emotional level.
“Just emotional regulation like sleep, if kids don’t get enough sleep they are not going to be able to regulate their emotions,” Kinder said. “They are not going to be able to learn.”
As these instant doses of energy in a can only continue to grow in popularity, those who have already seen the negative impacts on youth urge caution.
“Energy drinks are relatively new, but have been used extensively and I’m concerned about that,” said Dr. Derian.
“Twenty years ago, 30 years ago, we didn’t have these energy drinks and a lot of athletes managed to get through games just fine then. Games aren’t any different now,” Hackmann said.
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