Government proposes energy drinks ban for children

[Diabetes UK]

The sale of energy drinks could be banned in England to anybody under 18, amid fears they are damaging children's health, the prime minister has said.

The government has launched a public consultation on its plans to make it illegal to sell the drinks to children...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45342682

 

[mikeyB]

About time, too. There been causing problems in the classroom for years, with all these twitchy kids. And it’s not just the high levels of caffeine (Coke and IrnBru contain much smaller amounts), it’s the sugar - three times as much as full fat Coke. That’s even more addictive than caffeine. Great hypo treatment, mind.

 

[Ralph-YK]

There was a guy on the radio in a report about this. He said there was no more caffeine than coffee, and no more sugar than other drinks. I think he made references to 17/18 year olds being just as likely to drink coffee instead.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

There was a guy on the radio in a report about this. He said there was no more caffeine than coffee, and no more sugar than other drinks. I think he made references to 17/18 year olds being just as likely to drink coffee instead.

I must admit I assumed he was making that up, but it looks like it's about right. wikipedia has a chart showing caffeine contents of various things, and it does look like coffee is likely a bit higher than an energy drink. And Coca-cola's UK website says there's about 10g per 100ml in Coca-Cola classic which also seems to match energy drinks.

(I doubt teenagers are likely to switch to coffee, though I guess it's not impossible.)

 

[Ralph-YK]

(I doubt teenagers are likely to switch to coffee, though I guess it's not impossible.)

13 year old might not (where the parents are paying). 17 year olds could.

 

[Lanny]

High school kids in the 4th & 5th form, doing GCSE’s drink loads & loads of strong coffee regularly for their long revisuon sessions! One of my sister in law’s neices started this at 14 & she’s not the only one! It seems hip for teenagers to have fancy coffees at Starbucks & the like!

 

[Radders]

I must admit I assumed he was making that up, but it looks like it's about right. wikipedia has a chart showing caffeine contents of various things, and it does look like coffee is likely a bit higher than an energy drink. And Coca-cola's UK website says there's about 10g per 100ml in Coca-Cola classic which also seems to match energy drinks.

(I doubt teenagers are likely to switch to coffee, though I guess it's not impossible.)

I don’t understand this. When we were at school we all drank coffee. I have never really liked it so I remember it well! It wasn’t for any caffeine boost, it was just what you drank at each other’s houses.

 

[Bruce Stephens]

I don’t understand this. When we were at school we all drank coffee. I have never really liked it so I remember it well! It wasn’t for any caffeine boost, it was just what you drank at each other’s houses.

Quite likely I'm just of the wrong age. Back when I was in school, coffee was usually instant and not terribly pleasant. Nowadays the various coffee shops (and awareness of decent coffee) likely make it much more appealing (of course raising concerns about caffeine and sugar in some of the drinks).

 

[Radders]

Quite likely I'm just of the wrong age. Back when I was in school, coffee was usually instant and not terribly pleasant. Nowadays the various coffee shops (and awareness of decent coffee) likely make it much more appealing (of course raising concerns about caffeine and sugar in some of the drinks).

The type of coffee I am thinking about was most definitely instant and there were no coffee shops that I recall!

 

[Matt Cycle]

We used to drink coffee in later school years and certainly around exam time it was coffee and then pop a pro plus.

 

[Northerner]

Sometimes at school dinners we would be given a large aluminium jug of coffee to share at a table of 8. As I recall it was very milky and pretty vile, and sometimes had a skin on it 😱

 

[Eddy Edson]

Sometimes at school dinners we would be given a large aluminium jug of coffee to share at a table of 8. As I recall it was very milky and pretty vile, and sometimes had a skin on it 😱

Ecccch - that brings back memories. I guess it's easy to see why slightly-less-vile developments like Starbucks flourished. Here in Oz Italian immigration saved us from that dead-end - thanks, Italians!

 

[Ljc]

Sometimes at school dinners we would be given a large aluminium jug of coffee to share at a table of 8. As I recall it was very milky and pretty vile, and sometimes had a skin on it 😱

You were lucky. Nothing to drink at all with our school dinners , we lined up at the water fountains in the playground .

When I was a young kid, we had one cup of instant coffee a week made with all milk , the rest of the time it was tea or tap water , I was also allowed one glass of Ribena a day, about once a month I had a small bottle of Coke that was a real treat because I usually had a packet of crisps too.

Things are very different now , cans and bottled drinks are no longer a much loved occasional treat they are the norm.
Oh and I still much prefer Nescafé to other coffees.

 

[mikeyB]

My 3 year old grandson only ever drinks water or milk. He won’t drink coke, or any flavoured drink. That’s not parental influence, it’s his personal choice. Is he unique?