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Energy drinks linked to risky behavior among teenagers

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"Health researchers have identified a surprising new predictor for risky behavior among teenagers and young adults: the energy drink.

In Colorado Springs, several high school students last year became ill after drinking Spike Shooter, a high caffeine drink, prompting the principal to ban the beverages. In March, four middle school students in Broward County, Florida, went to the emergency room with heart palpitations and sweating after drinking the energy beverage Redline. In Tigard, Oregon, teachers this month sent parents e-mail alerting them that students who brought energy drinks to school were "literally drunk on a caffeine buzz or falling off a caffeine crash."

New research suggests the drinks are associated with a health issue far more worrisome than the jittery effects of caffeine — risk taking."

By Tara Parker-Pope
shortk8

32 responses // Energy drinks linked to risky behavior among teenagers

  • http://youtube.com/watch?v=6jbiNAsdnvE&feature=related
    I can't even have a cup of coffee with out feeling like I'm having a panic attack. I can't imagine drinking an energy drink.... I think it would be something like twitchy from hoodwinked.
    clarity_kat
  • Some Kids Today needs to learn to drink health drinks from real fruits and vegetables. This stuff there is "junk!"
    stopnoise
  • My boyfriend went on an energy drink spree to keep himself going at work. I tried them myself while at work and it worked fine for about half an hour, and then I crashed. I tried the same one the next day and I didn't feel energetic at all. I really think that these drinks should just be recalled. You seem to be able to build up a tolerance much too quickly, which leaves them absolutely destructive with no pros included.
    Sara_Airey
  • I'm stuck on the fact that teachers e-mail parents now. Remember the days when the only time your parents communicated with your teacher was through open house maybe twice a year. My, how times have changed. Anyway, I digress.
    Those energy drinks are the devil!
    Neghie
  • Remember when we were teenagers and we did actual drugs instead of energy drinks? Ah, the good old days.
    Scott_Bromley
  • has anyone considered the factor of self responsability being an ex- energy junkie myself i realized its not good to use it sparingly its addictive and you can abuse it like you can abuse anything else, if kids these days would just take it easy we all wouldnt have so many problems with them.
    RoBot_rOcKer
  • Does anyone still get drunk of alcohol? Before you know it there are going to be "Sugarholics Anonymous" meetings.
    75thDeadMan
  • The drinks are so popular because they're good at reeling people in; making people believe that it's actually good for them to have a little caffeine buzz now and then to keep them going, when actually it's probably doing a lot more harm than good.
    Freck
  • Those drinks make me feel like I'm on meth.
    mirimysweet
  • Freck, I agree.

    Plus, as lame as it sounds, kids like to buy those and carry them around like an accessory to show off how "cool" they are drinking energy drinks.
    pogschampion
  • watch this comment being used here, here, here, here, here, and here
    Energy drinks don't do a damn thing for me. So I guess I don't get this?
    Kallico75
  • Ha! A definitive link between energy drinks and d-bags! I've always noticed that, aside from Lacoste visors and sunglasses straps, Bro's are inseparable from their energy drinks! "They just taste so ill, brah!"
    mransom
  • While I agree that drinking too many energy drinks (Such as more than one at a time) can and has caused health problems, I don't think that it is a direct CAUSE of risky behavior.

    Has anyone thought that maybe teens and young adults who take risks are the demographic that energy drinks are being advertised to? That kids who take risks are more likely to BUY energy drinks because they want to be out and taking risks?
    SwampThing
  • I like how researchers just make up names for a set of behaviors. Toxic Jock...Uh, what? I know some people that suffer from toxic jock behavior and it has nothing to do with energy drinks.
    sapere_aude
  • Hmm well, the people I know who are seriously hooked on energy drinks (drink more than 6 a day) are also the partiers who bring the cocaine to camping trips, etc. Perhaps there's a link in the need for that kind of rush?

    I tried one of those drinks and nearly had a heart attack. I hated the feeling and haven't touched them since.
    Elligirl
  • Scott_B - now those were the good old days!
    I tried one of the energy drinks and all it did was make me jittery so I haven't tried them again. I really didn't see any harm in them until I started talking to kids who are hooked on the things and can't get through a day without them. Reminds me of the need of my generation for coffee. But as for causing risky behavior - I have to agree with SwampThing.
    JoQ
    • JoQ
    • 3 months ago
  • really ... i never had one until today actually... weird coincidence... i didnt feel any rush or any of the "wonderful" effects ........ kinda disappointed..
    kewal91
  • damn, drunk off them? are you sure there wasn't Jaeger shots in them? oh woops, thats mine. But really, when i do drink them, they make me sick and jittery, my leg was shaking so bad one time i popped the clutch and killed my car in the middle of the street lol.
    lrae87
  • Does not surprise me. Caffeine is a drug found in most soft drinks. The higher levels are found in energy drinks I tried them a few time and noticed that after drinking them it would give me a spark of energy and then flat out die, I could not keep my eyes open.
    Rome43
  • To SwampThing's point, the article has this:

    "The finding doesn't mean the drinks cause bad behavior. But the data suggest that regular consumption of energy drinks may be a red flag for parents that their children are more likely to take risks with their health and safety. "It appears the kids who are heavily into drinking energy drinks are more likely to be the ones who are inclined toward taking risks," Miller said."
    Mixedberries
  • When I was 16 and was working I regularly drank energy drinks and was fine. You just have to moderate how much you drink...
    Greg_Bunker
  • I drinking them for the taste. I like them far more than soda. I don't drink them often. They do the same damage to the tongue like sour candies. But I love them!
    J_Jammer
  • k..... guys...

    u do know that Taurine is literally bull piss...
    it comes from the liver... goes around in the intestines and comes out from.... u guessed it urination...

    its highly acidic and when u drink tons of it... the insides of ur stomach literally get burned out.... this acids flow around it the circulatory system too...

    stomachs can rebuild but an overdose has a pretty good chance of burning u from the inside out.... pretty scary
    kewal91
  • "Redbull give you wings!"

    Maybe if they drink enough they'll actually start flying...
    Ola_McGee
  • I can't imagine a day without coffee, but the only risky behavior as a teen I engaged in involved bourbon.
    JohnA
  • Not surprising. Someone who doesn’t think twice about gulping down a drink loaded with sugar, caffeine, and a number of other supplements that they probably know nothing about is probably more prone to taking a risk than someone who thinks “ I’ll eat a banana ”.
    VigorousAlloy
  • nahh its fine not to mention if you mix it with liquor...its even better
    sufferahsmusic
  • LOL redbull makes teenagers have unprotected sex....????...im so glad i live in 2008 so i can blame all my bad choices on bad parenting, rap music, George Bush and redbull.....great times we're living in.
    Meaghan1126
  • Is it the ingredients or the marketing that goes into the energy drinks that seem to make the teenagers who drink them more reckless?
    IAmTheWalter
  • Mixedberries:

    Okay, but I don't think that's really what's going on. Even if you took these drinks off the market, kids would still be taking risks. I don't think that it's a good thing to be handing people excuses for their behavior, because now that this is published I think that's what's going to happen. This is going to be the Twinkie defense all over again.

    So basically what I'm seeing from this is parents thinking: "It's not my fault as a parent that my kid is causing trouble, it's because he drinks energy drinks. If I take them away, it will stop."
    SwampThing
  • I'm thinking they got that backwards. More likely that kids that are more willing to take risk also just happen to like a little "Jolt" to get them going now and then. This is like saying parachutes cause people to fall out of perfectly good airplanes.
    eldamon
  • I never really noticed the bad side effects of energy drinks. Usually people know their limit, or just want one. In this case though, the number of energy drink related incidents, looks pretty puny compared to the number of people that drink them.
    earthhugger

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