Would you let a child drink ten cans of cola?
Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 09:53
Would you let a child drink ten cans of cola? Would you let them drink an energy beverage? You may consider the latter; strategically marketed to appeal to youth and seen at sporting events you may never have realized that some of these drinks can contain upwards of 500ml of caffeine. It isn’t easy to figure out exactly how much caffeine is in an energy drink. The nutritional label often does not state the total amount of caffeine, simply listing caffeinated herbal extracts as an ingredient. An early release editorial titled “Caffeinating” children and youth caused some waves this week appearing in the Globe and Mail as well as on TV. The above issues as well as the negative side effects (irritability, nervousness, rapid heartbeat, sleep deprivation) are discussed.
In sport, studies have been done over the years on energy drinks versus sport drinks. It is an area that confuses most. The SIRC Collection contains the following articles that may help:
