As schools return to their pre-2020 routines and children and teens make up for lost time with their peers, teachers fear energy drinks are becoming increasingly popular, especially as major brands now use influencers, popular musicians and sports fans to promote the drinks to a younger audience. Energy drinks have been safely sold and consumed for decades and are available in more than 170 countries, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and all member states of the European Union. There are big concerns about the long- and short-term effects on mental and physical health, and research has highlighted the negative effects of energy drinks on children, ranging from behavioral, concentration and sleep problems to headaches, heart failure and other physical problems and addiction. Energy drinks were popularized in the 1980s and marketed as a way to support physical and mental productivity, aided by their high sugar and caffeine content. Brands quickly partnered with sporting events and athletes, and the drinks were labeled as performance enhancers. Energy drinks are banned in my school and we are doing everything we can to enforce this ban. The problem is that convenience stores can still sell them to students and they can consume them off-site (despite an agreement with merchants to try not to sell them to our students). There are also no legal restrictions on how much caffeinated foods or beverages a person can purchase in a transaction. Under-16s are not legally required to show ID to purchase an energy drink, although there is an industry agreement not to promote this age group. Like many beverages, energy drinks are sold in different package sizes. Regardless of size, most consumer energy drinks have a caffeine concentration of about 10 mg/fl oz, which is comparable to a cup of homemade coffee. For example, typical 8 fl oz, 12 fl oz and 16 fl oz cans of energy drinks contain 80 mg, 120 mg and 160 mg of caffeine, respectively. In fact, most traditional energy drinks contain about half the caffeine from a similar-sized cup of coffee you`ll find at the local coffee shop.
For example, a 16-ounce energy drink typically contains about 160 mg of caffeine, while coffee of the same size contains about 330 mg. More information can be found here: Energy Drink Guide for Retailers.pdf (acs.org.uk) Energy drinks cannot be subject to an age limit for people over 18 years of age. Without a formal ban, there is little schools can do to prevent the consumption and popularity of energy drinks. Many schools do not allow energy drinks on campus, but there are no limits outside the school gates. A big problem is the amount of caffeine in these drinks: you can often contain a lot more caffeine than a coffee (and a mix of other stimulants, artificial flavors, and sugar), and many young people drink several cans at once. In fact, the government`s 2018 consultation found that a quarter of children who consume energy drinks consume three or more energy drinks in one sitting. In 2019, the government announced plans to ban the sale of energy drinks to children under the age of 16. Although research shows that excessive consumption leads to poorer health and education outcomes, the ban has yet to be enacted. In the context of Fizz Free February, we ask: What happened to the ban? “The government has already committed to banning the sale of energy drinks to under-16s, but years have passed without any action being taken.
Meanwhile, energy drinks are gaining more and more ground in the lives of young people and in popular culture. The ban has proven to be a popular proposal among policymakers, the scientific community and the general public: there is no reason for the government to waste more time on implementation. Members are reminded that there is currently no age limit for the sale of caffeinated foods and beverages, including energy drinks. I work in a SEN determination, the effects on additives and sugars in beverages, can be particularly strong for our students. Many students in school have ADHD. Many students are medicated for this and the combination of medications and energy drink contents can create a strong cocktail that causes even greater ups and downs, leading to an exacerbation of mental health problems. Students have often told me that they will not take their medication because they interact with high-sugar beverages. None of this has prevented the government from meeting this commitment. In 2019, after a widely held consultation (93% in favour), the government formally introduced the ban in the Green Paper on Health Outcomes after finding that advice and warnings were not sufficiently dissuasive. Supermarkets such as Tesco, Morrison`s and Asda introduced their own voluntary bans, which are maintained to this day, and the Association of Convenience Stores has backed them on the grounds that an official policy would create a “level playing field” for all stores. Bella joined Sustain as a Local Action Manager and has worked on Good to Grow, Veg Cities, Sugar Smart and Food for the Planet. She has a background in organic vegetable cultivation and research.
The branding of energy drinks can also be used by our students as a status symbol, as some students believe that brands give them a “mainstream” street confession. The main cause of industry resistance and government hesitation was the assertion that the effects of consumption were not sufficiently quantitatively proven. B@D.