How Bad Are Energy Drinks for Children?
What Are Energy Drinks?
There is no clear definition of what makes an energy drink, but it is usually taken that anything non alcoholic with more than 150mg of caffeine per litre is an energy drink. The first of its kind was Lucozade, which was launched in 1927. It was promoted as helping the sick to get better by regaining lost energy. Now there are lots of energy drinks on the market, all claiming to help boost energy levels and aid our performance.
What's in Energy Drinks?
We've mentioned the caffeine but energy drinks also contain water and sugar. Some also contain alts and amino acids.
What Are the Health Concerns?
The concerns focus on the two main ingredients (成分) of energy drinks, caffeine and sugar. Too much caffeine for children can in the short term cause headaches and raise blood pressure although it is important to mention that caffeine may not harm children in the long term. However, the short term issues do really worry teachers as caffeine can lead to an inability to sleep, which then affects a child's ability to focus and concentrate in class. In fact the maximum recommended (推荐) intake of caffeine for children is 2.5mg for every kilogram a child weighs, so if a child drinks energy drinks, it would be very easy to go over this dose.
Too much sugar can also cause health problems including obesity, tooth decay and in the long run Type 2 diabetes. So as with caffeine, if children are drinking energy drinks and consuming sugar in foods and other drinks, then it would be easy to go over the daily sugar allowance for a child. The thing to be aware of is what is called free sugars. Free sugars are those sugars which are added to foods or drinks, not the natural sugar found in fruits and vegetables. The amount of free sugar that a child should have is 19 grams per day for those aged 4-6 and 24 grams for those aged 7-10. So again it is easy to see that if children are drinking energy drinks over and above sugar that will be present in food they eat, it would be easy to go over the recommended amount of sugar each day.
Selling Energy Drinks to Children
There are currently voluntary bans for shops not to sell energy drinks to children under 16, but there are calls to make this illegal. Some schools have already banned children from bringing these drinks into school.
