Pediatric dentists near you are committed to preventing harm to your children’s teeth in every way they can, including by education. One topic on which parents need to be educated is the risk of kids’ consumption of energy drinks. Prevention dentistry in Apollo Beach often involves seeing and treating kids whose health has suffered from consuming these popular beverages.
Children should not drink energy drinks that are marketed as boosting energy, alertness, and even athletic prowess. Keep in mind that “energy drinks” often bear different labels. You may see them called sports drinks, vitamin waters, fitness waters, and enhanced waters. The dangers that these drinks pose for kids have nothing to do with the labels, but everything to do with their ingredients.
Ingredients in energy drinks can hurt your kids
Some energy drinks contain as much caffeine as one, two, or even three cups of coffee. Too much caffeine is dangerous for children. Caffeine can cause nervousness, stomach upset, increased urination, sleeping problems, concentration issues, headaches, and even an escalated and irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, hallucinations, and even seizures. How much caffeine is in an energy drink. According to the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, a 12-ounce can of the energy drink Jolt contains 100 mg of caffeine (roughly eight mg of caffeine per ounce). The Food and Drug Administration makes it illegal for a cola to contain more than 5.4 mg of caffeine per ounce. Energy drinks blow that limit out of the water.
Energy drinks are also frequently extremely high in sugar. While sugar is an important element in every kid’s diet, consuming too much sugar can contribute to unhealthy weight gain and tooth decay leading to increased cavities. How much sugar are we talking about? An energy drink may contain between one and two and one-third teaspoons per eight ounces. That’s roughly 60% more sugar than you might find in a typical soft drink. In addition to sugar, sodium content may reach 123 g per that same eight ounces.
Herbal supplements abound in energy drinks, and many of those supplements have not been tested to understand and confirm their effect on young children. Two very common herbal supplements found in energy drinks — guarana and taurine — are a source of caffeine in an already caffeinated beverage and an amino acid that actually enhances the effects of caffeine. Effects that hurt your children. Keep in mind that the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate additives found in energy drinks because they aren’t foods, but a “nutritional addition.”
What about your kids’ teeth?
In addition to the potentially harmful effects of energy drinks on your kids’ general health, they’re potentially harmful to your kids’ teeth, too. Every pediatric dentist near you wants you to know that the sugar in these products chews away at your kids’ teeth enamel while the caffeine in them can pull calcium from their bones and teeth. As if the sugar and caffeine weren’t a big enough problem, energy drinks are often filled with dyes that can stain a child’s teeth red, yellow, and blue especially if they’re lax when it comes to oral hygiene.
Healthy alternatives to energy drinks
When in doubt, give your kids water. Water is enough to hydrate your kids for sports and recreational activities. If your kids are bored by water, there are some healthy alternatives to energy drinks. Consider giving your kids a combination of fruit and water. Bananas and orange slices or chunks in water are a great way of providing hydration, natural sugars, and fibers to maintain ideal blood sugar levels.
If your kids’ activities make hydration a real concern, you should discuss with your pediatrician or pediatric dentist in Apollo Beach whether those activities are appropriate depending on the age and health of your child. Assuming you get the green light from your doctor and dentist, you can keep your kids hydrated with electrolyte packages from a drugstore or health foods store if you want an alternative to water. As you’re shopping, watch for their sugar content and discuss with your doctor how to maintain healthy electrolyte balance.