Youngsters are putting on weight because they continue to drink energy drinks without enough exercise
Doctors have warned that energy drinks can make children fat because they’re not active enough to burn off the additional calories.
Energy drinks can contain anything between 10-270 calories. Parents are being urged to offer water instead as a thirst quencher along with the recommended daily amount of fruit juice and low-fat milk with meals.
Dr Holly Benjamin a doctor at Comer Children’s Hospital and lead author of the expert report by members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition said, “For most children engaging in routine physical activity, plain water is best.”
Most children’s levels of exercise is too low to burn off these calorie-laden drinks. “Children don’t need them,” explains Benjamin, “and they could contribute to obesity and tooth decay.”
Energy drinks have the hidden danger of containing 14 times more caffeine than soft drinks. The stimulant has been linked to seizures, diabetes, heart problems and behavioural disorders, states the Daily Mail.
US doctors recently warned that there are health risks related to energy drinks so they should be monitored like “alcohol and tobacco”.
Their report, published in the journal Pediatrics, stated that there was very little need for children to drink carbohydrate-containing beverages.
