To be pissed off with local shop selling energy drinks with taurine to school kids and to write to MP

[FunBagFreddie]

DS is at secondary school and has lunch money etc, and recently I have found empty cans of energy drinks in his bag. These drinks are not just caffeine, they contain taurine which has been banned in some countries - France, Norway, Denmark. Effects of long term use can include paranoia, heart problems and it can disrupt neurotransmitters. I really don?t think that many parents are aware of just how unhealthy these drinks potentially are. The caffeine content is way too high for youngsters too imo.

The cans specifically state that it should not be sold to children, yet shops are selling it to kids in their school uniform. You see them all drinking it round here. I also wonder whether drinking it regularly for the buzz could lead to an increased likelihood to experiment with amphetamines further down the line. I'm not some puritan, but amphetamines are nasty drugs. Nobody thinks it's ok to sell tobacco and alcohol to minors, so why the hell is this crap being sold to them?

AIBU to write to my local MP about this problem?

[FlobbadobbaBOO]

Tuttu I'm really sorry if my comment upset you. Your DC's are significantly older than mine (my eldest is 11) and can obviously handle much more on all levels.
FWIW my parents found out pretty much everything me & my sister did when we were young and taking the piss, as I'm finding out about the odd thing DS has done in some of the ways you mentioned, and the fact that DS is a terrible liar!
Again, I never meant to cause you any upset x

[anklebitersmum]

Have to say that DS1 came back from a party at age 9 (cinema, macdonalds and back to house for cake and treats) with boggled, twitchy eyes and was literally shaking from the amount of sugar he'd consumed. No doubt in my mind that if sugary stuff can do that then this chemical filled junk does have side-effects.

Quite frankly the caffeine amounts in these drinks is outrageous and has been proven to be addictive so the taurine is really just an added 'don't do it' for me.

FWIW I wasn't an angel during my teen years but hey, my parents were better connected than MI5 and I soon gave up as the 'naughtiness' just wasn't worth the consequences. Too many children now-a-days have friends for parents instead of parents for parents.

I am a "Special Forces" parent when it comes to knowing what mine are up to (even if it is after the event sometimes)

scurries off to find that link on caffeine and addicted teens

[FlobbadobbaBOO]

My parents were the same, always knew everything and still do!
I'm quickly learning as DS gets older that I need to have eyes and ears everywhere at all times, fortunately we live in a small village so the children on the whole don't get away with that much. We are quite strict with the DC's but sometimes they have to learn from their mistakes..

[Tuttutitlookslikerain]

Flob, it wasn't you, but thanks any way.

I'm leaving this thread now. It's nice to know I've been being judged for allowing my DC to have the occasional energy drink when they were teens. I have brought up 2 fantastic young men that anyone would be proud of. They have dealt with a hell of a lot more than most kids, and when the going got tough, they dug deeper and got on with it! Last night I said to DS2 he was amazing for looking after me, he said "it's hardly a chore, you're my Mum, my best friend and I'd do anything for you!" How many 16year old boys do you know like that?

Don't judge the young kids you see with an energy drink, or their parents, because you really, really do not know their circumstances at home!

[FlobbadobbaBOO]

No worries tuttu, your DC's sound amazing and a credit to you.

[sashh]

PedanticPanda

What's a heart seizure? Never heard that term.

[FunBagFreddie]

I was actually concerned with kids of 11, 12, 13 regularly drinking these things Tuttutitlookslikerain.

[FunBagFreddie]

We live in a rural area too. I fuond out that DS was buying chocolate before school with lunch money from my mate who drove past him on the way to work.

I never said that I don't want to be a parent and that shops should do my job anyway. I just don't think shops should be freely selling these drinks to children. I have seen loads of kids who have just started secondary school, ie 11 and 12 drinking these.

[PedanticPanda]

A heart arrythmia called ventricular fibrillation.

[FunBagFreddie]

Shit, I feel really bad that I've managed to offend someone with this AIBU, I really didn't expect anyone to get offended by this.

[MaryZed]

I wouldn't worry about it FunBag. No-one has judged Tuttut or called her a bad mother.

There will always be disagreement about this sort of thing, as some children are affected more than others. Just as some children are naturally calm, some are borderline ADHD, some are hyperactive. The combination of an over-active child with either a massive dose of sugar or a number of energy drinks is something few teachers want to face on a Monday morning.

Having said that, some children could drink neat caffeine all day, and still be angelic - and aren't their parents lucky!

In general, most people seem to agree that energy drinks are harmful to children and young teenagers and don't help their health or their behaviour. So imo there is a case to be made for restricting their access.

[caramelthewitchescat]

DS1 used to bounce off the walls whenever he had cocacola, so he wasn't allowed it. Strangely though Dr pepper didn't affect him.

He was never allowed energy drinks for the simple reason that he would bounce off the walls. I was even more determined to make sure he didn't have any after a 6 year old child had horrible symptoms.

When he was about 13 he tried 2 cans to see what the fuss was about, I didn't know this until I found the cans behind my sofa really not well hidden, the bin wasn't an obvious choice

I warned him about the side effects. But as he no longer lives with me I can't police it and he has had cans when he's been over and I've expressed my concern.

DS2 is too young, so at present it's not an issue, but he will be warned when it's appropriate to.

[FunBagFreddie]

No, I wasn't judging. If it was the odd kid drinking it here and there, that would be one thing, but they all seem to be knocking them back. I'm sure that in many cases their parents probably don't know, and the kids are probably it with their lunch money.

[threepiecesuite]

I teach secondary and energy drinks are the currency by which the students trade - they buy packs up in bulk from supermarkets and sell it in school (a whole other problem in itself), it really is the 'cool' thing to drink, and I frequently find 20-30 or so empty bottles of Lucozade Energy, Powerade, Red Bull, Monster, Relentless, Blue Charge etc in the bin (and on the floor...) after each lesson.

Some of them (most worringly, girls) just have 2 bottles of energy drink at lunch rather than any food. They are noticably wired/hyper/unable to oncentrate after lunch and I put it down to these energy drinks.
I really am worried about the proliferation of these drinks and would support any petition to tighten up the rules on them.

[seeker]

"Some of them (most worringly, girls) just have 2 bottles of energy drink at lunch rather than any food. They are noticably wired/hyper/unable to oncentrate after lunch and I put it down to these energy drinks. "

Would you? I would put it down to not having eaten any lunch. Or probably any breakfast either.

[sillymillyb]

Mutny

No, me taking energy drinks off children as young as 4 is not a lie.

If I am putting on an event, the authority I have, is that I am giving the drinks away for free and I will choose who to give it to. If it is from a shop, then I will get the child their refund and raise merry hell with the shop keeper - who Should know better!

Lets face it, if a company whose sole goal is to make profit and increase sales says that it is not suitable for under 14's, you have to take notice as to why they are willing to curtail their business. If it was safe and ok to give children these drinks, then my old company would have been first in line saying whoopdewhoop, here's another demographic we can target.

[sillymillyb]

threepiecesuite there is an appetite suppressant in Monster Lo carb (totally outs self) it is sold into gyms and used as a training aide for this purpose.

[Trills]

In my day those girls would have just had coffee and cigarettes.

[seeker]

That's what they do at dd's school, trills- they are too posh for Red Bull!

[ovenchips]

I've done a bit of googling and really don't think it was actually the taurine that was causing the problem in these drinks.

So whatever you think of the drinks I don't think this in it should be cause for concern.

And if I remember rightly taurine is one the ingredients added to infant formula.

[mutny]

*If I am putting on an event, the authority I have, is that I am giving the drinks away for free and I will choose who to give it to. If it is from a shop, then I will get the child their refund and raise merry hell with the shop keeper - who Should know better!
*
If you are giving it away, you wouldn't give to small children that's different. However of you have given it to an adult and they have given it to a child they are responsible for, then you do not have the authority. Nor do you have the authority to take it off someone in the street (refund) or not, just because your company doesn't want them to drink it.

you have the right to take it up with the shop keeper NOT take if off them.

[sashh]

A heart arrythmia called ventricular fibrillation.

So not any type of siezure then.

And VF means, well basically you are dead. Are you sure there is evidence of people dropping down dead after drinking energy drinks?

I don't know where your quote comes from but there are medical journals suggeswting taurine be used to treat IHD and CHD.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586397

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21076292

The studies seem to be looking at 2 - 6g of taurine, so the equivelant of 2 - 6 cans of redbull.

[BodaciousTatas]

Dd's school has banned energy drinks from being brought in, the local shop sell a generic one for about 50p and all the kids were bringing it in. Dd has tried them but hates the taste.

I wish she felt the same about diet coke.

[PedanticPanda]

Did you read my post? I named the article in it; the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. And yes there have been cases of deaths where the suspected cause is energy drinks.

[PedanticPanda]

Here are some stats I found, im on my phone so cant properly cite articles but the webpage links and journal names and dates should be enough. A study published in the American Journal of Pharmacology and Toxicology (2010) found that taurine is implicated in hallucination. This was also supported by academics at the University of Durham who have recorded increased likelihood of hallucination from high caffeine intake, and the hallucinogenic risks of taurine are far more potent in the young.

"The study from the University of Miami viewed young people with cardiac or seizure disorders as particularly vulnerable. We just have to look at the figures to see the overall vulnerability. The study highlights the fact that, in 2007, 46% of the caffeine overdoses in the US occurred in people under the age of 19. In Ireland, between 1999 and 2005, 17 separate incidents of specifically energy-drink-related adverse events were recorded, including confusion, rapid heartbeat, seizures and two deaths. Similarly, between 2005 and 2009, New Zealand?s poison centre reported 20 energy-drink-related adverse events, with 12 cases of vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, jitteriness, rapid heartbeat and agitation referred for treatment." (This paragraph was found at www.parliament.uk).

This is the sad case of Tyler Johns, an 11 year old boy who became addicted to energy drinks and hanged himself; menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1114302_call_to_ban_sale_of_energy_drinks_to_kids

And there is Shaun Biggs of Lower Earley who died of heart failure after drinking red bull. Peter Biggs, Shaun's father, has set up the group SAFE, the Shaun Awareness Foundation for Energy Drinks to raise awareness of the issue. www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2075986_shaun_biggs_dad_denies_sons_death_was_natural
m.politics.co.uk/comment-analysis/2012/07/18/comment-the-unexplored-dangers-of-high-energy-drinks

And Sean cooney, who died after drinking 4 cans of energy drinks, and was the reason behind France banning the drink (although due to EU regulations the ban wasn't upheld). www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/5753.php
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/1374291/Student-died-after-sharing-three-cans-of-Red-Bull.html