Young people at risk from energy drinks

Young people who mix energy drinks with alcohol are twice as likely to end up harmed than those who just drink alcohol, a study has found. US researchers surveyed over 4,000 students about their drinking habits and found that people who drank energy drink cocktails were more likely to suffer injuries, require medical help or get into problems related to sex. The researchers concluded it was because the energy drinks masked feelings of drunkenness. Energy drinks typically contain high levels of caffeine as well as other stimulants such as ginseng. It has become popular among young people to mix them with alcohol, particularly vodka.

Independently of this study, there was already concern and controversy in the US about prepackaged energy alcohol mixes, critics arguing that not only were there particular health issues attached to them but also that the appearance and packaging of the drinks appeal to the under-aged as well as adding to the confusion as to which drinks are alcoholic and which not.

The new study, presented at an annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, found that a quarter of those who had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days had consumed energy drink cocktails. Compared with students who did not mix alcohol with energy drinks, they were twice as likely to be hurt or injured, to require medical attention, and to travel with a drinking driver. They were also more than twice as likely to take sexual advantage of someone else, and had almost double the risk of being taken advantage of sexually. In a typical drinking session, they drank up to 36% more than the other students, and they also reported twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness.

'Serious consequences'
Lead researcher Dr Mary Claire O'Brien said: "We were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mixed energy drinks with alcohol." She said the problem was that students did not realise they were as drunk as they were when they mixed alcohol and energy drinks.

"Students whose motor skills, visual reaction times, and judgment are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they're also ingesting a stimulant. Only the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced - but not the drunkenness. They can't tell if they're drunk, they can't tell if someone else is drunk.

"So they get hurt, or they hurt someone else."

Pre-packaged EnergyAlcohol Drinks
In the US, public health and safety officials were already campaigning against pre-packaged alcoholic energy drinks containing caffeine and other stimulants as well as alcohol. In 2007, 29 State Attorneys General signed a letter to Anheuser-Busch expressing their concern about Spykes, an alcoholic energy drink packaged in colourful 2- ounce bottles which, they said, had obvious appeal to youth. The objections of law enforcement officials as well as parents and leading public health organizations caused Anheuser-Busch to withdraw Spykes from the shelves but many other alcoholic energy drinks remain on the market.

In the US, The Marin Institute produced a report `Alcohol, Energy Drinks, and Youth: A Dangerous Mix’. The report reviews the limited amount of evidence available about the health issues connected with alcohol energy mixes and examines the alcohol industry’s marketing practices promoting the consumption of alcoholic energy drinks. The Marin Institute says that the results, while preliminary, are unsettling.

The report can be downloaded from:
http://www.marininstitute.org/alcopops/energy_drink_report.htm