Are Energy Drinks Affecting Young Adolescents?

About 80% of American adults consume 200 mg of caffeine a day. “A 12-oz. (tall) coffee from Starbucks will run you about 260 mg, while a 14-oz. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee contains 178 mg.” The daily intake of caffeine differed between products; one should always check the amount before consumption. There are no limits on how many energy drinks a person can purchase, which make it easy to abuse. Especially in younger children the addiction rate outstandingly high. Which may lead to other drug usage in the future and the committal dependence on stronger drugs.

Introduction: Energy drinks are a common beverage amongst teenagers and young adults. About 30-50%of teenagers and young adults consume energy drinks (1). Common ingredients of energy drinks include caffeine, taurine, sugar, all of which have an adverse effect on the cardiovascular response (1). Over dosing on energy drinks or inappropriate use, such as mixing it with alcohol, can lead serious consequences such a as insomnia, tachycardia and in rare occasions death (2). Thus, it is necessary to investigate these effects and prevent young individuals develop cardiovascular problems, or other diseases like diabetes and anxiety.

Previous research in this field has led to the determination that the consumption of caffeinated alcoholic beverages leads to an increased level of high-risk behavior among adolescents and young adults. Some of these high-risk behaviors include driving while intoxicated, unprotected sexual activity, and illegal substance abuse. In addition, heavy binge drinking is widely accepted as contributing to “neurocognitive deficits” and increased “morbidity and mortality.” Much of the previous research has focused on college-aged young adults. This study hopes to greatly shed light on the age group from 13 to 17 years old (pre-collegiate adolescents). In addition, the study hopes to

An independent samples t-test was conducted to examine the difference between experimental conditions on test performance. The results indicated a significant difference between participants who consumed the caffeinated beverage and participants who did not, with participants in the caffeinated group (M = 7.64, SD = 2.41) performing worse than participants in the non-caffeinated group (M = 9.81, SD = 3.16), t (97) = 2.14, p < .05.

Energy drinks are a kind of refreshments that are advertised as soft drinks that boost energy. The truth is these kinds of drinks are full of many harmful ingredients, such as sugar, stimulants, and other herbal supplements. Energy drinks are targeting high school and college students who may use this kind of drink to keep them awake for a midterm, or even give them a hallucination feeling any other alcoholic beverages will do. Many studies showed the disadvantageous of these drinks, yet this industry has wildfire between underage kids who used it to show their rebellious side through a safe and cheap way. A new study shows that 34% of youth between the ages of eighteen years old and twenty- four years old consume energy drinks regularly

“Does a relationship exist between energy drink consumption and academic performance among students?” (Pettit 2). Work hard in school and get good scores are the cultural norms of teenagers in America, teenagers are expected to always maintain the highest level of performance in sports or academic, they possibly can. But some people might forget that teens are facing many changes physically and mentally with the combination of greater responsibility. However, there is one kind of beverages can help improve their cognitive performance instantly, and it is increasingly advertised to young teenagers without precaution. Although this drink might sound of a great supplement to improve teen’s cognitive performance,

Back in 1050, the first energy drink was created the “Black Drink.” The brand Coca-Cola is considered to be one of the first energy drinks. Later in 1987, the brand Red Bull was launched. Ever since the launch of Red Bull, it has been the top seller being followed closely by Monster. But, in the whole world Monster is the top of that chart. Athletes and sports organizations have been sponsoring Red Bull causing their market to boom (Energy Facts Everything You Need to Know). Recently research has shown that some of Starbucks drinks can be considered energy drinks. Along with some coffees, green teas with lots of sugars can be called energy drinks too. Minors most commonly drink soda and tea rather than energy drinks (What You Should Know About Energy Drinks). Energy drinks have evolved from just the energy drink itself to some other drinks being considered energy

The intent of caffeine and sleep deprivation is to help the students through pressure and stress of studying from courses that they are taking. However, in actuality, caffeine and sleep deprivation effectively enlarge the gap between proper sleep and restfulness needed for body to function efficiently. However, the effects of caffeine on elevated cognitive processes are well researched even though it is “useful for restoring basic alertness and vigilance” (Huck 489). Although, caffeine seems to provide an equal opportunity for students to excel in their studies regardless of the lack of sleep that they are receiving, there is evidence that suggests caffeine may have a distinct advantage over needed sleep. Furthermore, the paper will

The consumption of alcohol mixed with energy drinks (AmEDs) is becoming increasingly popular amongst young adults and university students worldwide (Droste, Tonner, Zinkiewicz, Pennay, Lubman & Miller, 2014; Mallet, Marzell, Scaglione, Hultgren & Turrisi, 2014; Marczinski, Filmore, Henges, Ramsey & Young, 2013). In Australia it is estimated that almost half of eighteen to twenty-four year olds have used AmEDs, as well as 10% of them stating they use them weekly (Droste et al., 2014). Motives for high levels of AmED use by young adults is due to feelings of increased energy and alertness, as 70% of young adults state they feel “more energetic” using AmEDs compared to alcohol alone, the ability to consume more alcohol, as energy drinks can “hide”

Sylvia Nena (2011) also stated that “Manufactures of these products claim to increase energy, endurance, burn fat and improve athletic performance. According to experts, many of them state that it is untrue that energy drink helps to increase energy. This is due to drugs that can be found in the drinks such as caffeine. Caffeine with high levels of consuming can cause some problems to the human body like palpitations, hypertension, vomiting, convulsions and even worst heart failure which can lead to death. Roland Griffiths (2012) a caffeine specialist said that high caffeine in use by young people can cause a cycle of rushes and crashes that can add “a degree of variance to their moods and psychological well-being that they don’t really need. Joao Breda(2014) from WHO’s Europe wrote that caffeine has a proven negative effect on

This study examined the effects of energy drinks on two cognitive abilities- concentration and perseverance. College students were tested on both a concentration task and a perseverance task after one of three levels of energy drink and coffee intake: none, 6 hours, or 12 hours. We predicted that energy drinks would impair both concentration scores and perseverance time. Energy drinks deprivation had no significant effect on concentration scores, which is consistent with recent research on the effects of energy drink deprivations (Green et al., 1995; Green et al., 1997). However, participants in the 6-hour deprivation group spent significantly less time on the perseverance task than those in both the control and 12-hour deprivation groups, suggesting that short-term deprivation may affect some aspects of cognition and not others.

The study was conducted by three researchers from the University of Maryland and John Hopkins University. The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between the ingestion of energy drinks with drug use in college students. There has been extensive research as to why the two are consumed by the same group of people, and previous studies have concluded that the high content of caffeine promotes drug use, including prescription drugs. This particular study’s goal is to examine the changes in consumption of the drinks within college students, evaluate the differences in those who use versus those who do not, and analyze the relationship between the energy drinks and use of drugs. The researchers hypothesized that energy drinks increase the risk of drug use, particularly stimulants.

Specifically, researchers Rogers et al. (2012) have demonstrated how caffeine consumption versus abstinence effect functioning levels. In order to do this, they gathered a sample of 369 participants and assessed them using mental performance and motor tasks, as well as mental alertness scales to measure the effects of caffeine. Results showed that there was a significant effect of caffeine in all areas other than recognition memory. The study also yielded results that show a reduction in sleepiness, while an increase in anxiety and jitteriness. In addition to caffeine, another drug called L-theanine, commonly found in teas, has also been shown to improve cognitive performance as well. In this particular experiment, there were 44 participants that were presented with a choice-reaction-time task, virtual-search task, egocentric mental-rotation task, and an attention-switching task after drinking a tea-based soft drink that combined caffeine and L-theanine. With the consumption of this beverage, results showed that the drink did improve task-switching accuracy, increased alertness, decreased fatigue, and increased

Caffeine is widely available to everyone, including teenagers and young children. The Mayo Clinic recommends a daily dosage of one hundred milligrams for teenagers, but most teenagers consume anywhere from sixty to eight hundred milligrams throughout the day. While yes, there are some positive effects of caffeine, such as increasing alertness and containing antioxidants that can aid heart health, there are still some negative ramifications that mainly affect teenagers, or more specifically, their brains. In a recent study, it was discovered that with teenagers, the more coffee you drink, the harder it is to fall asleep. Since the adolescent brain forms when you are in deep sleep, the lack of sleep caused by caffeine disrupts the formation

The practice of adolescents and young adults consuming alcoholic beverages with energy drinks or AmED has elevated concern on the topic of possible increases in detrimental practices with regards to drinking, damaging psychological and physiological side effects from consuming these mixed beverages and behavior that puts the individual and those around them at risk. In order to better see the effects of consuming both alcohol and energy drinks together, authors Amy Peacock, Raimondo Bruno and Frances H. Martin present a study that aims to establish the particular physiological, psychological and behavioral risk-taking consequences of drinking alcoholic beverages with energy drinks in the article, “The Subjective Physiological, Psychological, and Behavioral Risk-Taking Consequences of Alcohol and Energy Drink Co-Ingestion.”