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Sports and Energy Drinks Dehydration in Adolescents Discussion

 

In a report entitled, “Kids Should Not Consume Energy Drinks, and Rarely Need Sports Drinks, Says AAP,” the nation’s pediatricians are advising teens not to down sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade unless they’re actually playing sports and to forgo energy drinks like Java Monster, Red Bull and Full Throttle altogether. The report was published in the journal, Pediatrics, by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition and its Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness.

Many teens drink sports drinks in the lunch room, but these beverages are technically designed to give the body a carbohydrate and electrolyte boost, Dr. Marcie Schneider (an adolescent medicine physician) says, which is great for athletes after a grueling practice or a marathon workout session. “But outside that setting – and honestly most of our teens and children are way outside that setting – they don’t need sports drinks,” she says. “Water, not sports drinks, should be the major source of hydration for adolescent.” (Park, 2011)

Read and research this information. What is at issue here? Why are these drinks dangerous to children and teens specifically? At what age would you consider them safe? Be sure to reference any outside resources you use in your post.

Sources

Reply:

Should adolescents and teens be allowed to drink energy drinks? Based on the American Academy of Pediatricians the answer is no. Because children do not need the extra caffeine and sugar. Energy drinks are not regulated so if a energy can has 200 mg of caffeine it may actually have 250mg of caffeine. Some brands of energy drinks have as much as 400mg or even 500mg of caffeine per container. Health risk for adolescent and teens that drink energy drinks are sleep disruption, jumpiness or restlessness, increased anxiety, mood swings, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythms and seizers. Regularly consuming energy drinks put the body in an elevated state of stress. Over time that can affect children’s developing brains and cardiovascular system. There is no age at which energy drinks are ok not even in adults. If a child complain about not having enough energy it is recommended that they move more, get plenty of sleep, eat balanced diet, take a multivitamin and drink plenty of water.

Should adolescents and teens drink sport drinks? Based on the American Academy of Pediatricians only if the are active in sport and are needing to replace lost electrolytes other wise they should only drink water and lots of it. Sport drink have a lot of sugars and that can add a lot of extra calories to adolescents and teens diets. Negative effects of sport drinks are high sugar levels that can cause obesity, slows dehydration ( high sugary drinks can slow hydration during exercise) hyponatremia ( low levels of sodium), tooth decay, Not enough electrolytes( the sugar in the drink often cancels out their benefits)

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2011/05/31/136722667/pediatricians-warn-against-energy-and-sports-drinks-for-kids#:~:text=More%20Podcasts%20%26%20Shows-,Pediatricians%20Warn%20Against%20Energy%20And%20Sports%20Drinks%20For%20Kids%20%3A%20Shots,and%20lots%20of%20it%2C%20instead. (Links to an external site.)

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/power-drinks.html (Links to an external site.)

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-energy-drinks-for-kids-a-good-idea/ (Links to an external site.)

https://www.thedailymeal.com/9-negative-effects-sports-drinks-slideshow/slide-4

Reply:

I think the issue with these young kids drinking sports drinks is the excess consumption of sugar. Most of those sports drinks contain just as much, if not more, sugar as a soda! So if we know that drinking sodas is unhealthy, we cant advocate inactive kids to drink sugary drinks. Also the sports drinks have sodium in them because they are designed to replace the salt lost by sweating and also to provide carbohydrates for energy. Water is the best hydration option, especially for individuals who are inactive. Another factor to consider is the cardiac effect that energy drinks have. They have been known to cause cardiac dysrhythmias. Energy drinks also have copious amounts of sugar in them as well. The carbohydrates are not needed for the kids either. Again, water is the best option, especially for inactive kids.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/energy-drinks/ (Links to an external site.)

https://www.verywellfit.com/is-gatorade-good-or-ba…

Reply:

Sports Drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade to children because the products increase energy and enhance mental alertness and physical performance. Men between the ages of 18 and 34 years old consume the most energy drinks. one-third of teens between 12 and 17 years old drink them on the regular basis. The CDC reports that drinkers 15 to 23 mix alcohol with their energy drinks. They are four times more likely to binge drink intensely. The issue is the amounts of caffeine in energy drinks may vary widely, the actual content may not be identified easily. Some energy drinks are displayed as beverages and others as dietary supplement. There is no requirement to determine the amount of caffeine on the label of the product. Caffeine can cause mental and physical harm to your body and mental health. Caffeine can cause anxiety, sleep problems, and dehydration.

According to The U.S. Food and Drug Administration there are no official guidelines about kids and caffeine. Pediatric experts said that kids under 12 should not consume caffeine. Those over 12 should limit to no more than 2 cans of cola each day. A cup of cola contains 45 milligrams of caffeine per can.

SOURCES

https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/energy-drinks (Links to an external site.)

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/are-energy-drin…