Energy Drinks are Very Dangerous for Children

Energy drinks can be dangerous for children. Here are 10 reasons posted by my friend Rosa in her website. It’s saying - make sure our kids stay away from these energy drinks because they can be extremely damaging. Let's teach our kids this.

10 Reasons why we should teach our kids to stay away from energy drinks:

1. Caffeine. Some brands have up to five times more caffeine than regular soda.

For an adult, about 400 to 500grams is acceptable amounts.

Energy drinks can have up to 180grams in a can compared to less than 50grams in a soft drink.

A cup of coffee can contain between 27grams to over 150grams depending on type, where you buy it and strength of coffee.

2. Caffeine overdose can cause hallucinations, breathing problems, seizures, diabetes and rapid heartbeat.

3. Staying awake. Many people use energy drinks to stay awake, because of the caffeine content. This is not a healthy practice for anyone, much less children. Instead, we should be teaching kids about proper rest, and instilling good habits when they are young.

4. Lack of nutrition.. There is no nutritional value in energy drinks and when they fill up on these they do not have room for or lose interest in nutritional drinks.

5. Caffeine is a diuretic. Diuretics cause dehydration. Dehydration is very dangerous in kids. Because of their smaller size, a child can get dehydrated at a much quicker rate than adults.

6. Warning labels. A majority of the energy drinks have warning labels on them indicating a multitude of situations where it could be dangerous for an adult to consume the beverage. If it is dangerous for an adult than it is absolutely dangerous for a child. Some labels even state specifically that they should not be consumed by children.

7. Lack of awareness. There are some energy drinks have herbal supplements in them. Unless you are extremely conscious of the ingredients in energy drinks and the effects they can have on children it is not wise to let your children ingest these.

8. Sugar content. Some energy drinks contain 31 grams of sugar per serving with one can being 3 servings. That is a total of 23.25 teaspoons of sugar!.

9. Not enough information. There have not been enough studies done to show the effects these drinks have on children.

10. It can be addictive. Caffeine can be addictive. When taken in such large amounts on a frequent basis, children can become addicted to the caffeine they are ingesting. If you think your kids are hard to manage when hyped up on caffeine, wait until they have to go through withdrawal.

Pediatricians do not recommend energy drink consumption by children.

Read the label and education yourself on what your kids are eating and drinking.
Thank you Rosa for this excellent piece of advice. http://www.nondiet.com/blog/10-reasons-energy-drinks-are-dangerous-for-kids/

This link provides information on the exact amount of caffeine in the various energy and soft drinks. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211.


Happy Teaching and Cooking!