QUESTION A 14-year-old boy came to my office to discuss his frequent consumption of energy drinks to enhance his performance at school and while playing soccer. What is the recommended use of energy drinks in children and is there any harm in consuming them? ANSWER Energy drinks are beverages with a high concentration of caffeine and additional stimulants. They are sold in numerous places and...

Concern is growing about the harms that may arise from heavy drinkers mixing alcohol with so called energy drinks to enable them to drink for longer and achieve higher levels of intoxication. On Friday and Saturday evenings, about 40% of people on Australian city streets are heavily intoxicated (breath alcohol concentrations (BAC) greater than 0.087mg alcohol/100 ml) and nearly a quarter of the...

OBJECTIVES Caffeinated energy drinks have become increasingly popular among young people, raising concern about possible adverse effects, including increased alcohol consumption and related risk behaviours. The current study examined consumption of caffeinated energy drinks and use of energy drinks with alcohol, as well as associations with socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics, amo...

OBJECTIVE To review the effects, adverse consequences, and extent of energy drink consumption among children, adolescents, and young adults. METHODS We searched PubMed and Google using "energy drink," "sports drink," "guarana," "caffeine," "taurine," "ADHD," "diabetes," "children," "adolescents," "insulin," "eating disorders," and "poison control center" to identify articles related to energy...