Pressure grows on the government to blanket ban energy drinks for children

20/09/18

Pressure today mounted on the Government to introduce a blanket ban on energy drinks for children as England’s top paediatrician reiterated fears over the products.

Professor Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, warned they can cause obesity, sleep-deprivation and depression.

He warned the high levels of caffeine in the drinks – similar to the amount that can be consumed in a cup of coffee – contribute to behavioural problems, sleep loss and anxiety.

It comes amid an ongoing consultation led by officials over the drastic move proposed by Theresa May to ban the fizzy drinks last month.

The move was hailed by campaigners including TV chef Jamie Oliver, but critics said the government is obsessed with banning things.

Many British supermarkets have already stopped selling caffeinated energy drinks to children under the age of 16, but there are calls for it to be outlawed completely.

Professor Viner said children already have enough energy and eat enough calories, and that adding energy drinks to the mix was unnecessary.

Writing in the British Medical Journal he said the drinks, which can be shockingly high in sugar, ‘undoubtedly contribute to the overall calorie excess and resultant obesity epidemic among our children.’

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