{"id":737,"date":"2017-09-29T01:50:46","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T01:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/energy-and-sports-drinks-in-children-and-adolescents\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T20:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T03:22:10","slug":"energy-and-sports-drinks-in-children-and-adolescents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/energy-and-sports-drinks-in-children-and-adolescents\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy and Sports Drinks in Children and Adolescents: What Parents Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nQuick Answer:<\/strong> Sports drinks and caffeinated energy drinks (CEDs) pose significant health risks for children and adolescents, potentially contributing to obesity, dental erosion, and cardiovascular stress. The Canadian Paediatric Society recommends that plain water remain the primary hydration source for children, with sports drinks reserved only for sustained high-intensity athletic activity lasting more than 60 minutes.\n<\/div>\n

Principal author(s)<\/h3>\n

Catherine M Pound, Becky Blair; Canadian Paediatric Society, Nutrition and Gastroenterology Committee<\/p>\n

Abstract<\/h3>\n

Sports drinks and caffeinated energy drinks (CEDs) are commonly consumed by youth. Both sports drinks and CEDs pose potential risks for the health of children and adolescents and may contribute to obesity. Sports drinks are generally unnecessary for children engaged in routine or play-based physical activity. CEDs may affect children and adolescents more than adults because they weigh less and thus experience greater exposure to stimulant ingredients per kilogram of body weight. Paediatricians need to recognize and educate patients and families on the differences between sport drinks and CEDs. Screening for the consumption of CEDs, especially when mixed with alcohol, should be done routinely. The combination of CEDs and alcohol may be a marker for higher risk of substance use or abuse and for other health-compromising behaviours.<\/p>\n

Keywords: <\/strong>Alcohol<\/em>; Caffeine<\/em>; CEDs<\/em>; Energy drinks<\/em>; Sports drinks<\/em><\/p>\n

Why Water Remains the Optimal Hydration Choice for Children<\/h2>\n

The marketing of sports and energy drinks to children has grown substantially over the past two decades, with youth-targeted advertising spending exceeding $1 billion annually. Despite this, the clinical evidence consistently supports water \u2014 particularly clean, filtered water \u2014 as the optimal hydration choice for children of all ages engaged in typical daily activities and sports.<\/p>\n

Sports drinks contain 14\u201317 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving (comparable to soda), along with sodium, potassium, and artificial flavors. While electrolyte replacement is clinically justified for endurance athletes who sweat heavily over 60+ minute sessions, the average child consuming sports drinks during recreational soccer practice or gym class does not need electrolyte supplementation. The added sugar instead drives caloric surplus, dental enamel erosion (due to acidic pH of 2.5\u20133.5), and habituated preference for sweet beverages over water.<\/p>\n

Caffeinated energy drinks present a more serious risk profile. A standard 8-ounce energy drink contains 80\u2013150 mg of caffeine \u2014 equivalent to 1\u20132 cups of coffee \u2014 along with stimulants such as taurine, guarana, and B-vitamins. Because children weigh significantly less than adults, their effective caffeine dose per kilogram of body weight is 2\u20134 times higher for the same volume consumed. Health Canada and the American Academy of Pediatrics both recommend zero caffeine consumption for children under 12 and limited consumption for adolescents (maximum 100 mg\/day).<\/p>\n

High-quality filtered water \u2014 free from chlorine byproducts, lead, and microplastics \u2014 is the foundation of healthy childhood hydration. Reverse osmosis and carbon-filtered water systems remove taste and odor compounds that drive children toward flavored alternatives, making clean water more appealing for daily consumption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sports drinks and caffeinated energy drinks (CEDs) are commonly consumed by youth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":88010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-filter","tag-ro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88106,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/88106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ampac1.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}