Raising the Alarm: The Health Risks of Energy Drinks for Kids

Current world places more attention on catchy marketing strategies than ever before. In the context of a fast-paced world, where content is only a click away, energy drinks for kids have become in vogue.

Despite the many studies proving the threats to the health condition of consumers of highly caffeinated beverages, energy drinks for kids are a thing. Read on and discover the origin of this concerning fad.

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Energy drinks for kids: Prime Hydration is born

Not so long ago, around the beginning of 2022, two extremely popular YouToubers –the true celebrities of modern days– Logan Paul and KSI, launched a project to challenge Gatorade’s enormous success. The fruit-flavored sports drink received the name of Prime Hydration.

These two YouTubers are well-known for having a mostly young audience. Both have ventured into boxing and the music industry, and built a platform that, combined, reaches more than 40 million viewers.

Initially, their content was mainly based on popular trends and challenges that aroused the attention of the youngest. Yet, it has mutated into a sort of ramification of flex culture. 

Flexing, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, has to do with showing “that you are very proud or happy about something you have done or something you own, usually in a way that annoys people”.

Luxurious cars and mansions are part of their day-to-day audiovisual content. And this, yet again, appeals to a mostly young audience, eager to get a glimpse of a successful adult life.

With no surprise the market received fairly well the launching of Prime Hydration. In both the United Kingdom and the United States, the sports drink captivated kids that took matters into action and quickly devoured the stock, making it hard to even find the beverage in stores.

Buying the drink was a highly coveted commodity. The popularity of the drink exceeded expectations and got to a point where young people exchanged bottles for hefty sums on school playgrounds and amassed collections of all nine available flavors. 

The successful brand moved towards a new direction –offering energy drinks for kids– after announcing shocking earnings of $250 million in 2022.

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Prime Hydration starts selling energy drinks for kids

In January 2023, about a year after the launching of the brand, Prime Hydration made its debut in the energy drink market with a range of fruity-flavored energy drinks.

With the launching of the energy drinks, the brand set itself aside from the rest as the ingredients did not include sugar but coconut water and taurine, an amino acid known for its energy-boosting properties.

Each serving of these energy drinks for kids, however, includes a substantial 200mg of caffeine, which is an alarming quantity when compared to other competitors.

Red Bull, for example, contains a mere 80mg per serving, Monster boasts 160mg, and a standard cup of coffee typically falls within the range of 100 to 200mg, depending on the brewing method. 

One must note the energy drinks for kids of Prime Hydration exceed significantly the recommendations of daily maximum caffeine intake, which is fixed in 100mg for those between 12 to 17 years old.

There’s no doubt the nature of the audience of both YouTubers, as well as the marketing choices of Prime Hydration, started to get the attention of the adult population, prompting concerns. 

In July 2023, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer requested for the FDA to conduct an inquiry into the brand, due to the trade of energy drinks for kids. He even expressed the need to remember that the energy drinks for kids should not be seen as a symbol for status, nor a fashion trend, as these beverages contain harmful ingredients.

Experts have expressed deep concern as to the potential negative consequences in health for the children the brand actively targets. These energy drinks for kids, however, continue to enjoy their success as Prime Hydration has gained widespread popularity through social media and the influencer world.

In his letter to the FDA, Schumer urged the agency to investigate the “insufficient warnings about caffeine content” and to treat the business of energy drinks for kids with serious consideration.

History with energy drinks for kids

In the past, Americans have voiced concerns about the consumption of energy drinks for kids as well as products with high concentration of caffeine within their ingredients. 

US Department of Agriculture authorities first expressed concerns about the excessive caffeine levels in Coca-Cola, a popular cola among young children as young as four, in 1909.

Children’s smaller bodies made them more vulnerable to quick side effects such anxiety, restlessness, dehydration, and diarrhea because it carried roughly 74mg per 8oz serving. 

The Pure Food and Drug Act was revised in 1912 to compel caffeine disclosure on food labels as a result of judicial actions. Coca-Cola, for example, decided to cut the amount of caffeine in each drink in half.

Despite this reduction, soda remained an appealing caffeine substitute for coffee, especially for teenagers whose sleep schedules are frequently out of sync with early-morning obligations.

Energy drinks for kids started to overtake soda in popularity by the middle of the 2000s. Many businesses adopted Red Bull’s business strategy after it was founded in Thailand in the 1980s and expanded to become a $18.5 billion company. 

In addition to caffeine, energy drinks for kids started implementing a marketing strategy that largely avoided traditional advertising and favored strategies like giving away samples at extreme sports competitions and, with the rise of social media, focusing on potential customers online, frequently without parental knowledge.

Regulation of energy drinks for kids

It might be argued that Prime Hydration complies with the current regulations as the product states it’s meant for adults over the age of 18, and the caffeine level is stated on both the container and the website. 

However, the marketing choices appear to be focusing on people under the age of 18. Through attractive and colorful packaging, sweet fruity flavors, and a certain sense of proximity, the brand manages to sell energy drinks for kids. Especially, in the context of a huge fan base mostly made up by very young audiences. 

Energy drink regulation is definitely a challenging task, even more so if we talk about energy drinks for kids. Despite the fact that there have been numerous attempts in more than a dozen states over the past 15 years to prohibit the sale of energy drinks for children, the only successful ban concerned alcoholic energy drinks.

The matter was brought on due to reports of college students being hospitalized for alcohol poisoning after consuming Four Loko.

At the time, there are no specific rules for alcoholic and nonalcoholic energy drinks developed by the FDA. Although excessive energy drink use has been linked to hospitalizations and even deaths, it can be difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of these instances.

For instance, in 2017, a 16-year-old South Carolina resident died from a deadly heart attack after ingesting a McDonald’s cappuccino, a big Mountain Dew, and an unidentified energy drink within around two hours.

As of today it is unknown how much, if any, harm energy drinks may do to kids when compared to caffeinated cola or coffee. Few studies have specifically examined energy drinks or the interactions between caffeine and other popular ingredients like yerba mate, guarana, or taurine. 

While many scientific studies have examined the effects of caffeine, both positive (such as improved athletic performance and increased alertness) and negative (including heightened stress, aggressive behavior, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, and stomach irritation), very few have examined the effects of caffeine alone.

In either case, parental expectations about energy drinks for kids are rising. Authorities continue to be on the lookout, and subscribers continue to consume content using viral trends as cover for marketing tactics.

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