Child health fears as energy drinks consumption doubles

CONSUMPTION of high caffeine and high calorie energy drinks has more than doubled in the past seven years, leading to growing calls for a ban on selling the drinks to under-16s.

According to the Beverage Council of Ireland (BCI), 34.5 million litres of energy drinks, such as Red Bull and Burn, were consumed in Ireland last year, compared to 15 million litres in 2002.

With exam pressure and the need to study causing even more teenagers to reach for energy-boosting drinks, nutritionists and medical experts have warned that drinking too much caffeine can lead to health problems.

On average, 8.1 litres of energy drinks were consumed per person last year, compared to 3.8 litres per person in 2002.

The market for sports drinks has also exploded, with 18.5 million litres consumed last year.

Consultant dietician Aveen Bannon said the drinks should not be sold to under-16s and warned that excess intake of energy drinks in young people could cause nausea, abdominal discomfort and irritability, and elevate heart rate and blood pressure – symptoms exacerbated when the energy drinks are mixed with alcohol.

“Tea, coffee and stimulant drinks are becoming a regular fixture in teenagers’ diets,” she said. “Stimulant drinks coupled with alcohol is now a common tipple with Irish teenagers – some reporting intakes of up to eight cans of Red Bull mixed with vodka in a night out.”

Nutritionist Paula Mee said: “The body of evidence doesn’t show that these drinks do any harm if they’re taken appropriately, but the problem is that there are always some people who don’t know how sensitive they are to caffeine and who are not consuming them appropriately – and combining them with alcohol is risky.”

She also said over-consumption of sports drinks by children “who don’t need to” was rife.