Health Experts Warn Against Energy Drinks for Kids
By Rosemary Winters
The Salt Lake Tribune
August 18, 2010 06:07AM
As a new school year begins, health experts at the University of Utah warned parents Tuesday to keep energy drinks out of their kids’ backpacks.
“How much should the pediatric population drink? None,” said Howard Kadish, chief of pediatric emergency medicine at the U.
Caffeine-charged drinks such as Red Bull, Rockstar, Full Throttle and Who’s Your Daddy have flooded convenience and grocery stores in recent years. The beverages may contain the equivalent of two or three cups of coffee. Among teenagers, they’ve become go-to drinks for parties and late-night studying.
Young people are especially vulnerable to the harmful side effects of caffeine, said Barbara Crouch, a pharmacologist and director of the Utah Poison Control Center. Those who guzzle energy drinks can experience anxiety, heart palpitations, restlessness, sleeplessness, nausea, vomiting and — in extreme cases — heart arrhythmias and seizures.
It’s not a new issue. In 2009, researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a paper in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence that called for more accurate labeling of energy drinks to reflect their caffeine content. The researchers also suggested federal regulators should consider restrictions on advertising and the “aggressive” marketing to inexperienced users, primarily young males.
But so far, the caffeine content of energy drinks remains unregulated.
Peter Taillac, a physician at the University Hospital’s emergency room, said he has seen a rise in the number of patients treated for caffeine overdose.
Last week, a young man in his mid 20s came into the University Hospital emergency room because he thought he was having a heart attack.
“He had been drinking 7 or 8 energy drinks a day,” Taillac said.
Many energy drinks aren’t clearly labeled with caffeine content because some sources of caffeine may be natural ingredients such as guarana and green tea, Crouch said.
And consumers sometimes confuse these beverages with Gatorade-type sports drinks, which do not contain stimulants and aid re-hydration after physical activity. Athletes should not to turn to energy drinks to recharge, she said, because caffeine is a diuretic.
“Schools should definitely not have energy drinks on campus,” Crouch added.
Energy drinks are not expressly banned in Utah’s public schools, but they are “not prevalent,” said Charlene Allert, the State Office of Education’s assistant director of child nutrition programs.
The state’s recommended guidelines for school vending machines include a prohibition on all caffeinated beverages.
Granite School District, Utah’s largest, favors non-carbonated and juice drinks in school vending machines, said spokesman Ben Horsley. The district does not allow energy drinks to be sold in schools.
“Vast amounts of sugar and caffeine in beverages didn’t seem like a healthy choice in an educational environment,” Horsley said.
But many kids are buying the drinks outside of school, Crouch said. Marketing of these drinks, she noted, often links their enjoyment to psychosocial drugs and risk-taking behaviors.
There’s even one on the market called “Cocaine,” added Kadish. “How can that not be a concern?”
rwinters@sltrib.com
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Wait — how much caffeine is in there?
Although energy drinks often contain other additives, the amount of caffeine varies wildly among products. Some contain as much caffeine as a dozen sodas. Here is a listing of milligrams of caffeine per ounce in a few drinks. For more drinks, see Page A4.