On a cold
February Monday in my junior year of high school, I stumbled down the stairs
and, in an act of defiance, poured myself a cup of forbidden coffee.
Steeling
myself against my parent’s outrage, I was instead met with mild interest and a
gentle warning to drink only two cups a day. As my parents are usually right, I
have always tried to live by their simple rule.
But
even if teenagers today are heeding the two-cup rule when it comes to coffee,
there are now so many other ways to ingest caffeine in amounts that could jolt
an elephant from a coma.
The
Mayo Clinic recommends that adults consume no more than 400 milligrams per day,
and that adolescents limit their caffeine intake to 100 mg per day, roughly the
amount of one small cup of brewed coffee (although a Starbucks 16-ounce grande
coffee contains about 330 mg of caffeine).
READ MORE: Why kids shouldn’t be guzzling energy drinks
Beyond coffee
In one
beverage alone, your child could be drinking three times the amount of
recommended caffeine. Moreover, the scientist in me can’t help but wonder if
100 mg a day is a relative figure, given the variations in children’s size,
weight and metabolism.
For
those parents who wouldn’t dream of giving their kids a cup of joe, keep in
mind that a 20-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew contains 54 mg of caffeine, and a
20-ounce bottle of Coke contains 58.
The
latest trend of energy drinks for kids has nutritional health advocates worried.
Thanks to the advent of Red Bull and Monster drinks, the flood gates have been
opened for numerous food and drink supplemented with caffeine. Those little
yellow “5-Hour Energy” shots? They contain 200 mg of caffeine in each bottle.
“I’ve
seen a lot of kids addicted to energy drinks, using it too late during the day,
and lying about their use,” says Dr. Barbara Payne, a pediatrician at Mount
Kisco in Rhinebeck. “Quite honestly, we should ask more kids about their
caffeine use. We ask them about drug and alcohol use, but not about caffeine.
I’m not even sure they see it as a drug.”
READ MORE: Are your kids drinking enough?
Energy and empty calories
Nancy
Case, a nutritionist and dietician in Dutchess County, says parents often
complain to her about their child’s nervousness, restlessness and poor
appetite, while having no idea how much caffeine their child is consuming. She
has also seen a correlation between caffeine consumption and sleep issues in
Hudson Valley children.
What
Case finds even more disconcerting is that children are using energy drinks to
replace what could have been nutritious snacks, especially the more active kids
who are involved sports. Caffeine can also increase the amount of calcium
that is flushed out in the urine, thereby causing calcium deficiency.
“This
in turn adversely affects the nutritional needs of children,” she says. “They
are merely consuming empty calories.”
Maria
Cecilia Melendres, a pediatric pulmonologist and sleep specialist at John
Hopkins Children’s Center, notes that overloading on caffeine actually prevents
the brain from functioning optimally.
“Teens
are still undergoing brain maturation and sleep is especially important to that
process,” she says. “Caffeine, which has been shown in studies to disrupt
sleep, may have adverse effects on brain development as a result. Caffeine also
decreases the time you spend in slow-wave sleep, which has a critical role in
learning and memory. At the same time, more awakenings during sleep leads to
daytime sleepiness, which prompts you to consume more caffeine. It’s a vicious
cycle.”
READ MORE: Top tips for parenting teens
Marketing to children
In a
2011 report by the American Academy of Pediatrics entitled “Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for
Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate?,” the group calls the marketing
of sports drinks and energy drinks toward children inappropriate.
“Sports
drinks are flavored beverages that often contain carbohydrates, minerals,
electrolytes … and sometimes vitamins or other nutrients. Although the term
“energy” can be perceived to imply calories, energy drinks typically contain
stimulants, such as caffeine and guarana. ... Using energy drinks instead of
sports drinks for rehydration can result in ingestion of potentially large
amounts of caffeine or other stimulant substances.”
Barbara Crouch, executive director at the
Utah Poison Control Center, said in a 2013 interview with CNN that unlike
coffee drinkers, energy drink consumers (especially teens) like to chug down
not just one, but two or three to get a good jolt on before a hardcore workout
or sports practice.
"When you pound down more than one
energy drink verses sipping a cup of coffee, you're not metabolizing it the
same way," she says. Crouch also notes that factors like size, age,
gender, drug interactions, hydration levels and the amount of food in the
stomach can mean different outcomes for different people when on a caffeine
binge.
“There is absolutely such a thing as caffeine
poisoning, and the dose essentially makes the poison."
No FDA
regulation
Caffeine
does not currently fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug
Administration, so “energy” products are not regulated. And more and more of
these companies are gearing their advertising to adolescents as an answer to
their busy lives.
And
it’s not just drinks. Your little darlings can now buy “Wired Waffles” (200 mg
caffeine), “Bang! Caffeinated Ice Cream (125 mg caffeine) or even “Crackhead
Expresso Beans” (200mg).
Until
the FDA begins regulation of caffeine, it is up to parents to educate
themselves and their kids about the drinks they are putting into their bodies.
There are many adverse side effects of caffeine in large amounts, which need to
be taken into consideration.
So
wake up parents (pun intended) and watch out for your teen’s caffeine
consumption. It could save their lives.
Kymberly Breckenridge is a
freelance writer living with her family in Rhinebeck.