Yale University. US: Middle-school children who consume heavily sweetened energy drinks
are 66% more likely to be at risk for hyperactivity and inattention
symptoms, a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health has found.
The
finding has implications for school success and lends support to
existing recommendations to limit the amount of sweetened beverages
schoolchildren drink. The authors also recommend that children avoid
energy drinks, which in addition to high levels of sugar also often
contain caffeine. The study is published in the journal Academic
Pediatrics.
The research team — led by professor Jeannette Ickovics,
director of CARE (Community Alliance for Research and Engagement) at
the School of Public Health — surveyed 1,649 middle-school students
randomly selected from a single urban school district in Connecticut.
The
researchers found that boys were more likely to consume energy drinks
than girls and that black and Hispanic boys were more likely to drink
the beverages than their white peers. The average age of the student
participants was 12.4 years old. The study controlled for the number and
type of other sugar-sweetened drinks consumed.
“As the total
number of sugar-sweetened beverages increased, so too did risk for
hyperactivity and inattention symptoms among our middle-school students.
Importantly, it appears that energy drinks are driving this
association,” said Ickovics. “Our results support the American Academy
of Pediatrics recommendation that parents should limit consumption of
sweetened beverages and that children should not consume any energy
drinks.”
While more research is needed to better understand the
effects and mechanisms linking sweetened beverages and hyperactivity,
previous research has shown a strong correlation between children with
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and poor academic
outcomes, greater difficulties with peer relationships, and increased
susceptibility to injuries. These associations are understudied among
minority children, notes Ickovics, and previous research has suggested
under-diagnosis of ADHD in black and Hispanic children.
Some
sugar-sweetened beverages and energy drinks that are popular with
students contain up to 40 grams of sugar. The students in this study
consumed on average two sugared drinks per day, with a range of zero to
seven or more drinks. Health experts recommend that children consume a
maximum of 21 to 33 grams of sugar daily (depending on age).
In
addition to hyperactivity and inattention, heavily sugared beverages
also impact childhood obesity, notes Ickovics, and sugar-sweetened
beverages are a leading cause of added calories in the diets of obese
children. Currently, about one-third of American schoolchildren are
considered overweight or obese.
The study was co-authored by other
researchers from CARE, the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and
the New Haven Public Schools.