Energy drinks have been surrounded by multitudes of controversial information as they include caffeine which is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA. Energy drinks have been known to help adults stay awake as well as endure throughout a day. For children and adolescents however, data has shown age to be a critical factor in rating the severity of toxicity in taurine and caffeine. Aside from caffeine, which is needed to boost alertness and energy, taurine is another commonly included ingredient in energy drinks. It seems that for children there are negative risks associated with the ingestion of taurine and caffeine, especially since their brains are still developing. Another major reason that countries have limited the sale of energy drinks to minors is the due to the smaller body size and lack of tolerance to stimulants. Although brain development is at the core as to why children should not be ingesting energy drinks, another major issue is cardiovascular functioning. It has been found that acute effects of caffeine and consumption of energy drinks have shown moderate increases in blood pressure and heart rate.
Something that needs to be considered before giving adolescents and children access to energy drinks, is the idea that adults and children are in different stages of life. Adults are tasked with caring for others in the family or at least working while children are tasked with exploring the world and understanding it as they explore. The relative goals and requirements of both groups are typically different. One possible mechanism in which caffeine interacts with people is by enhancing cognitive abilities through changing general arousal levels, specifically in fatigued individuals. For an adult, the situation may be that they have more work do to whether that be physical or cognitive. In this case caffeine is useful, but for a growing child fatigue is an indicator of rest as opposed to an indication to ingest caffeine. This information suggests that the developing brain will show signs of hypersensitivity towards caffeine ingestion.
Since coffee has been around for longer, it is more established in our lifestyles than the ingestion of energy drinks. However, while energy drinks have been reported to have negative effects, companies are still targeting younger aged groups for consumption of such products. It is important to keep in the mind the total or inclusive impacts of all items being ingested. That is the inclusion of the harmful effects of coffee, which are not easily highlighted as publication bias supports coffee production and ingestion. Caffeine is one of the largest contributors to the negative impacts caused by energy drinks, but it is crucial to remember the sum of all of the ingredients which produce such effects rather than one single factor.
Source
Curran, C. P., & Marczinski, C. A. (2017). Taurine, caffeine, and energy drinks: Reviewing the risks to the adolescent brain. Birth defects research, 109(20), 1640–1648. https://doi.org/10.1002/bdr2.1177
Hey Shiva thanks for sharing! I thought that it was interesting how you talked about the differing views of fatigue in children and adults. It would be interesting to hear if other, non-Western cultures felt the same way. I know that caffeine works by binding to cells and preventing adenine from binding, which makes us tired (Medical News Today, 2017). I was wondering if taurine works in a similar way in blocking out adenine. Also, I was curious if children and adult's brains bind to caffeine and taurine in a different manner. Thanks for sharing, I'll have to do some more reading on it!
ReplyDeleteReference:
Caffeine: Benefits, risks, and effects. (2017, October 16). https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285194
I think this topic heavily ties into the biomedical ethical value of non-malfeasance. If there is evidence to show that energy drinks can have negative impacts on children, I understand and actually agree that its sale to children should be limited. However, to play devil's advocate, should the sale of all foods/drinks with potential negative health effects on children be limited then? Sugar is addictive (something we don't normally think about or talk about) and excessive sugar intake can lead to an abundance of health issues like obesity, tooth decay, depression, type II diabetes, acne, etc. So should the sale of candy/Hawaiin Punch to kids be limited then? Obviously eating a skittle won't cause any kid to have those issues, so I think that same principle could be applied to energy drinks in that "how much and how often would the child have to drink that in order to start having issues?". I think the threshold for negative effects to arise is much lower for energy drink than for junk food/candy, but I think it's still an idea worth thinking about if the goal is to ensure non-malfeasance.
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious if energy drinks are so bad for kids if because the energy drinks are dosed for adults, or if any amount of those ingredients would still have negative effects on kids. As in, if an energy drink were dosed for a child's mass (300mg of caffeine decreased to Xmg of caffeine), would it still be harmful?
Hi Shiva, I thought your blog was really interesting. Growing up, I've seen my friends start drinking energy drinks as early as 6th grade. I agree with you, the idea that energy drinks are high in sugar as well as caffeine make it harmful for adolescents. According to CDC, in 2011, 1,499 individuals that were ages 12-17 years old went to the emergency room due to energy drink consumption. Energy drinks can dehydrate their body, produce heart complications, anxiety, as well as insomnia. Parents and teachers can educate the younger population on energy drinks in order to reduce the number of adolescents that are drinking them.
ReplyDeleteEnergy Drinks. (2019, May 29). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/energy.htm
Hi Shiva,
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading through your blog, I started to wonder how many times children and adolescents may be setting themselves up for “failure” depending on what age they start their regular energy drink consumption. Oftentimes, I think young adults feel like they have to resort to these beverages because they feel that it will help improve their current mood or behavior. The most common problem/solution combo that these age groups deal with seems to be to take an energy drink when you feel fatigued. The next thing you know, they’re in this vicious cycle of high energy levels followed by a sugar crash and the process just keeps on repeating. Eventually, a dependence for these drinks comes around which can linger further into adulthood and the resulting side-effects could be more pronounced at this stage—high anxiety, depression, and withdrawal symptoms to name a few. Instead, I think physicians should make a greater emphasis on looking at a person’s diet, exercise, sleep schedule, etc. which could all be mitigating factors as to why someone is feeling drained of energy.
O'Neill, C. E., Newsom, R. J., Stafford, J., Scott, T., Archuleta, S., Levis, S. C., Spencer, R. L., Campeau, S., & Bachtell, R. K. (2016). Adolescent caffeine consumption increases adulthood anxiety-related behavior and modifies neuroendocrine signaling. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 67, 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.01.030