Research links kids' energy drink intake to health risks such as such as insulin resistance, as well as mental health issuesCarrying 10-year-old George* into A&E after he’d slurred his words and blacked out, Jane* feared for her son’s life., but in the weeks leading up to his hospital admission, he’d been suffering dizziness, headaches, tummy aches and had kept fainting.
Jane’s son George was 10 when he started having energy drinks. She says lots of his friends drank them, as well as“I thought if I stopped him, he’d only start sneaking them,” Jane says. “At least, this way, I was in control. To be honest, I had no idea what was in the drinks. I knew there was sugar and caffeine, but I didn’t think they would be at the levels where they could make him ill.”
George was kept in hospital for observation overnight before being discharged, and he hasn’t touched an energy drink since. “I didn’t know it at the time, but James was buying one on the way to school, too, so he was having two of the drinks a day. He was using theI gave him for lunch, drinking the drinks, and not eating much food at all. His school work was slipping, he hadn’t been sleeping well and he wasn’t eating well either.
“Among his mates, these drinks are seen as cool – they’re a bit of a status symbol – but the children have no idea how dangerous they can be. Fortunately, his sister has steered clear as she can see how awful her brother is after drinking them. It’s such a shame, because these drinks have become a divide in our family.”“Many primary teachers have coffee or tea in class and many adults drink cans of fizzy or energy drinks in front of their children.
“I chose drinks with zero calories or sugar, so I didn’t think they were super-unhealthy. But it got to the point where they were having zero effect.”“I started collapsing, getting heart palpitations, feeling dizzy and sometimes feeling very hot,” she remembers. “I was eating well, exercising and at a healthy weight, so should have been well.