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Energy drinks: the canned caffeine creeping into our children's lives
From the playgrounds to students studying late into the night and partying early into the morning hours. Joshua Saunders investigates how energy drinks are not only stealing our kids's sleep but could be putting their lives at risk.
A
gaggle of five school children, no older than eleven, stand at the side of a
compact cornershop, metres away from Pimlico tube station. They’re discussing
which drink to buy, admiring the rack of sugared beverages before them. “This
one’s the cheapest,” says a freckled blond haired boy, pointing to an energy
drink.
His
friends consider the recommendation, glancing over the endless array of fizzy
caffeinated beverages before them. All but two of them purchase the home brand
energy drink available at their fingertips for 39 pence.
At
the time I was a spectator watching as the shopkeeper scans the cans that bear
the warning ‘not recommended for children’. Unaware or disinterested he waives
their age aside and sells drinks they were not intended to consume.
Several
days previously to this, in November last year, the parents of young Anais
Fournier lost a lawsuit of ‘wrongful death’ against energy drink corporation
Monster. Anais, who was only 14 at the time, had consumed two 24-ounce cans of
Monster Mega Energy. She suffered cardiac arrest after taking in 480mg of
caffeine, the equivalent to 14 cans of Coca Cola, which she had drank in just
over 24 hours, which aggravated an underlying heart condition. Neither Anais or
her parents were aware of this weakness that was caused by a genetic disorder.
The
coroner concluded that “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity
complicating mitral valve regurgitation in the setting of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome”
was responsible for her death. “Anything that weakens the heart can increase
sensitivity to caffeine’s cardiovascular impacts,” commented cardiologist Rita
Redberg.
This
sensitivity to caffeine and a lack of knowledge about how caffeine affects younger
people and their bodies is to blame for the sad story of young Anais. Her
parents decided to switch off her life support machine after she had lay
dormant in a medically induced coma for six days. This is not the only case of
where a child has been hospitalised after consuming energy drinks.
The
case shocked the world, casting doubt and uncertainty over the safety of energy
drinks, leaving many of us, myself included, questioning: how many more
children and teenagers could be at risk?
Despite
this the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) documented in 2011, that we as
a nation drank 495 million litres of energy drinks, the equivalent of 198
Olympic sized swimming pools.
The
market leader is Red Bull, which is the third best selling soft drink in Britain
selling more than 230 million cans last year.
“Red
Bull gives you wings,” “Unleash the beast,” “Party like a Rockstar,” “Go Full
Throttle or go home” are a few of the common slogans employed by energy drink
advertisers to entice purchasers displaying the uplifting energized effect of
what some refer to as ‘canned adrenaline’.
The
BSDA, who represent the soft drinks industry, issued a code of practice to
prevent people below the age of 16 from being targeted by advertising for
energy drinks. But despite this, many large companies sponsor extreme sports,
skateboarders, sportsmen and competitions that are predominantly watched and
participated in by children and teenagers.
Mother
Tina Brazier from Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham was concerned to find that
Jacob, her son, had been consuming between five and six cans of energy drinks a
day at their local skatepark.
“Red
Bull have their own sections on extreme sports channels and the majority of
their audience is at the lower end of the teenage scale, who then aspire to be
like them,” says Tina. “My nine year old’s obsessed with skateboarding
programmes. So now he’s being drip fed by the same advertising.”
Jacob
was 13 when he developed a series of bladder infections and at times was
urinating blood. Doctors could not pin down after to a specific cause, even
after numerous tests. “One evening he kept going to the toilet, and then he’d
go to the toilet again he’d say, ‘it’s not fair my tummy’s hurting.'”
“It
seemed that there was a direct correlation between the energy drinks he was
having and the effects it was having on his bladder. It was irritating him a
lot.”
A
Canadian health report suggests that children aged 13 and under should not take
any more than 2.5mg of caffeine per kg of body weight. The average weight for a
12-13 year old hovers around seven to eight stone, meaning the highest amount
of caffeine children of that age should consume is 119 mg.
However in the average 500ml can of energy drinks Monster and Rockstar there is 160mg of caffeine, and the slightly denser 475ml can of Red Bull contains fractionally less.
“Jacob
seems very hyper when he’s had them, speaking at twenty million miles per hour,
unable to sit still and fidgeting,” Tina explained. “He now knows he can’t have
them, but they are quite blinkered at that age and so doesn’t consider things.”
Weeks earlier this innocent naivety was highlighted to Tina, when her nine-year-old
son returned from the shop with a ‘ginormous can of monster’. “Three young
children can go into a shop and freely buy energy drinks, with legislation they
wouldn’t be able to do that,” she stressed.
Currently
there is no legislation to prevent a child of any age from purchasing energy
drinks. The only barrier between kids and energy drinks are the shopkeepers,
whether they choose to sell to minors is at their own discretion.
“You
can buy them in the shops and drink as much as you can, which is where some of
the health concerns come in,” says Dr Michael Duncan of Coventry University’s
biomolecular and sport science department. He said: “energy drinks are packed
up as a ready to go high caffeine solution,” not tailored to an individual’s
own tolerance level.
One
report, from the University of Miami’s paediatrics department suggests, “These
drinks have been reported in association with serious adverse effects,
especially in children, adolescents, and young adults with seizures, diabetes,
cardiac abnormalities, mood and behavioral disorders or those who take certain
medications.”
They
warned that high-caffeine drinks could “exacerbate cardiac conditions” in
children resulting in “hypertension, irregular heartbeats and even sudden
death.”
We
put our queries to three of the largest energy drinks companies. Neither
Monster, Red Bull nor Relentless replied to our questions about the safety of
their products towards teenagers and children. However in previous statements
they have made the following comments: “Red Bull should be part of a balanced
and varied diet as well as a healthy lifestyle.” Monster - “Our products are
safe based on both our and the industry’s long track record and the scientific
evidence supporting the safety of our ingredients.” No comment from Relentless
could be found.
“The
reality is they’re very accessible and popular and you see kids drinking energy
drinks all the time,” says MP Robert Wilson. The Reading East representative is
calling for clarity on whether they pose risk or danger to young consumers.
“Without looking thoroughly at what ingredients like taurine do to the body
from state-commissioned research, we’re effectively playing a game of Russian
Roulette. It’s time we took this issue rather more seriously,” he added.
Across
the pond in Canada there are now laws preventing any non-resealable energy
drinks from containing more than 180mg of caffeine. But Huffington Post
columnist Steven LaFleur opposes the newly implemented laws believing, “For the
amount of resources required to implement this type of legislation you could
run all kinds of public education or health efforts.”
As
of December 2014, under EU law all energy drinks companies will be forced to
disclose the caffeine content per 100ml on the front of their cans. Along with
the current requirements stating ‘high caffeine content’ and ‘not recommended
for children, or pregnant or breastfeeding women’.
But
is this enough - will labelling effectively cull the younger generation’s
thirst for caffeinated drinks? The answer I suspect is no. Similarly, if laws
were passed banning shopkeepers from selling energy drinks to children it risks
making them into another adolescent taboo. The only effective measure against
children putting themselves in harm’s way is education. Although at a time
where the wallets of the taxpayer are tighter than an anaconda’s grip, public
outreach programmes could also be out of the question.
“If
you have a mature and honest conversation with your children about the effects
of caffeine and sugar, I think you have a better chance of influencing their
behaviour than any broad [legislative] approach,” suggests Steven LaFleur. And
perhaps responsibility should be returned to us, the sensible parents, family,
neighbours and friends of caffeine consuming kids...
Experts
allude to the fact that further research must be done, specifically into the
ingredients taurine, guarana and other stimulants to unravel how truly safe
energy drinks are. But until that definitive point they are still available in
more than 140 countries worldwide and all that we can do is try to educate
young people about safe and moderate caffeine consumption
Dance teacher Lou Coel from Northampton, said:
“One
girl I teach brought an energy drink to my lesson, she’s nine. At that
age they shouldn’t be having them because they will be bouncing off the
walls one minute, then sleeping and feeling depressed the next.”
Mumsnet member Becca Cobham from Lydney said:
“Kids
that age are drinking them to get a buzz, and they are stimulants. You
worry that they could found out about something stronger, like legal
highs on the internet."
Student Ashley Humber, 19, from Christchurch said:
“I've
gone through phases where I've polished off a six pack of Red Bull in a
morning, in two hours. I've been there in cold sweats, really scatty
and not unsure of where I am, everything feels different.”
Television production student Loti Bradley, 21, from Lincolnshire said:
"They
made me feel more awake and stimulated so I could get on with work and
improve my concentration but in the end I was relying on them rather
than having them for enjoyment."
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