Study: Kids the Marketing Target of a Dangerous Beverage

A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics came out strongly against energy drinks for kids. According to the study Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate?, reported on BeverageDaily:

"Stimulant containing energy drinks have no place in the diets of children or adolescents." But researchers claim that doesn't stop energy drink manufacturers like Red Bull from targeting kids. "Sports and energy drinks are being marketed to children and adolescents for a variety of inappropriate uses," said the studies authors.

Red Bull quickly claimed that its target market was not kids at all. "We do not market our product to children and other caffeine sensitive people."

But it's clear that kids are drinking these drinks and it's also clear that they should not be. I wrote about the consequences of kids, tweens, and teens sipping on these over caffeinated concoctions.

The first issue is that these energy drinks (Red Bull, Full Throttle, Rock Star etc.) are labeled as supplements rather than beverages. This means that though you can find them right next to a can of coke at your local convenience store, they can still make unproven claims like "burns calories" and "fuels your workout" right on the can. What's worse even a little kid can purchase a drink that's often loaded with as much caffeine as 2 to 3 cups of coffee along with a slew of other sometimes strange ingredients.

According to the New York Times:

Kevin A. Clauson, a doctor of pharmacy at Nova Southeastern University in West Palm Beach, Fla., who had previously reviewed safety issues surrounding energy drinks said that his main concerns were "the amount of caffeine, which can be injurious particularly to people with a pre-existing cardiovascular abnormality" and "the effects of these drinks when they are combined with alcohol, which can have disastrous consequences."

Bottom line-kids and energy drinks do not mix and the health aftermath can in fact be dangerous and in some cases, deadly.

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