Are Energy Drinks Harmful to 9 and 11 year old boys? ?

Question

Both my 11 and 9 year old are driving me insane. They want to have a Monster Drink. It has a lot of vitamins in and no sugar but I am sure it is loaded with caffeine. I thought these were supposed to be for adults who work a lot of hours and need a boot to keep going.,

Answer 1

They're harmful to anybody.  Nobody needs THAT much caffeine, regardless of how long they need to work.  Personally, I wouldn't let my kids have energy drinks until they're 18 and I can't stop them anymore.

Answer 2

That is too young, my friend had a minor heart attack from drinking one too fast.  Don't your children have enough energy already, do you really think you could handle them after drinking 5 cups of coffee.  Definite no for your sanity.  

Answer 3

yes they are bad they make blood thick and sticky and god forbid your son has a heart problem that not aware of he can die

Answer 4

Energy drinks are not good for anybody. As they can cause dehydration and kidney problems.  

Answer 5

Yea don't feed those to your kids. Energy drinks in general are not good for people. I have a friend who drinks a monster a day and now he is going through his 3rd kidney stone. He won't stop drinking them even though the doctor told him he's getting the kidney stones from the energy drinks.

So don't let your kids start up with those drinks so young, let them choose as an adult. Also if they really wanna try an energy drink give em a healthy one at least. I use FRS, it has really low sugar and caffeine levels (less than a cup of coffee) and is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. It doesn't make me insane with energy but I get the boost I need. Might be better for them so they don't bounce off the walls after they have it. I got it here http://www.voernix.com/2008/07/frs.html through a free trial.

Answer 6

I doubt any 9 or 11 year old needs that much caffeine dumped into their body.  You think they are driving you insane now, give them that much caffeine and see how more quickly they can drive you insane.  Hold your ground, you wouldn't give them vodka if they were insistent and tried to drive you insane.

Answer 7

occasionally let them split one and then make them clean their rooms. Energy drinks in excess have been associated with heart problems  

Answer 8

Of course, give them fresh juice instead =)

Answer 9

Energy drinks are just that. Energy drinks. They are not regular drinks or soda. They are designed to give a boost of energy when we are feeling a little low. They are not designed for kids. No manufacture recommends them for kids under 12. Kids that do use them, 12 and up of course, are suppose to be very active needing an occasional boost. But like most things too many people don't use them as intended or over use them and that is where problems come in.

They are loaded with caffeine. 80mg per serving. The Monster is a bigger can so the small ones have 2 servings in it. The large Monsters have 3. The maximums safe level of caffeine in take per day is only 300mg. That is per day, not at once. Red Bull recommends having only 1 to 2 a day. Even the 2nd largest selling energy drink, which happens to be the 1st and largest selling Healthy Energy Drink, XS Energy suggests having only 1 and recommends against having more than 2 of theirs a day.

Monsters are not really full of vitamins. They only have B vitamins in them. Yes, they are essential for energy but most regular energy drinks put in as much or very little more than what the caffeine actually depletes our bodies of in the first place. Using the justification that it has vitamins in it is simply a bunch of bull. The only one that can make that claim is XS Energy because they put in a bunch more B vitamins than regular energy drinks.

Then there is the sugar and calories too. Monsters have 26g of sugar per serving. They also have 110 calories per serving. That is 27g and 220 calories for a regular Mosnter. That is too much too, especially for kids. Take you kids body weight and multiply it times 15. That is how many calories they need in a day. I am guessing that a single Monster would be a pretty big portion of their required calories. There are already too many fat kids in this country don't add two more.

Caffeine does the following: It dehydrates. it depletese us of calcium and B vitamins. It can cause sleeping problems if too much is used and within 4 - 6 hours before sleeping. It can cause headaches, and muscle aches, mostly from the dehydration. It can cause kidney problems, heart problems, skin problems and even problems with other organs.