This year I have noticed more and more kids are consuming enregy drinks such as Red Bull, AMP and other various brands prior to their match. I have even seen 6 an 8 year old kids doing this. I am courious to what other people think about this activity. Do we want our kids to think they have to consume these stimulants so they can perform at their best? I personally don't think that kids need to be taught to depend on any type of stimulant to participate in any sport.

My kid takes a shot of Jack and a beer back 10 minutes before each match. The finals are usually pretty funny to watch.

I was ready to ask if your kid was Shane Konrada? LOL

I guess I can't really see any problem with it, at worst they are nothing more than carbonated bevorages with extra caffine in them, over tha long term they aren't goign to cause major damage. Its basically equivilent to drinking about 4 cups of coffee. One might argue that the "comming down" part of the experience could produce unwanted side effects. But honestly these drinks are no wrose for kids than Soda especailly Mountain Dew which has enormous amounts of sugar and caffine in it. I guess in conclusion, used in moderation I don't think they are that harmful.

some of them say not recommended for children under 18 or somthing similar

I think something like Spark for Kids, made by Adocare, would be a better choice. It does have some caffeine(same as a cola) but it has other nutrients as well. And,it is sugar-free. It is for mental focus and energy.

I don't believe it's a good idea for kids to drink these overpowerful drinks. If you think about how caffeine affects the human body, let alone a kid's body, it would seem dangerous. But, I haven't heard of any problems yet. Has anyone researched this?

I don't think it is a problem if kid has a energy drink before competition. The one I would reccomend is Red Line, it tastes good and works great.

hm i think its up to the parents...let your kid drink the darn drink...its just for energy my friends

our sons drink SPARK by advocare and it is more of a mental focus then anything else. In fact it is even recomended for kids with ADHD. It is endorsed by wreslting community from Olympics, college and many NFL and College training camps. We are not talking about stimulants here but energy drink, Cusick ever eat a candy bar??? same thing but spark does not have sugar in it like pop. Does your kid drink pop after matches??? Lots of sugar, it is not an edge over any wrestler at all.

I see many kids drinking pop and candy during tournaments, energy drinks are a lot better for you

Well I guess the day I see someone die from drinking an energy drink, will be the day I start worrying about their consumption.

a lot of these energy drinks have creatanine in them and it is not good for kids under 16 to take this as it puts stress on the kidneys

I'm not speaking out for or against these drinks but, caffeine IS a stimulant and so is guarana which is also in many "energy drinks". Someone correct me if I am wrong but I think SPARK contains caffeine.

Nigel-

If you are waiting for a kid to die first then it will be to late- I know you meant no harm by your comments but honestly to state that you would wait until a kid dies didn't sound good.

I would like to see testing on this stuff- the stress levels right before a match that meet up with the energy drinks in an 8 year old kid has to have some effect on them and it might be all good- but testing would really support or break not support it and I would like to know.

I am and stress junky and feed off of it. So no energy drink for me. I just have to repeat to myself- "go get him TIGER" and I am ready to hit the mat *L*

Energy Drinks Don't Even Work For Me.

Well maybe energy drinks dont work for you because you are gay

Creatine in beverages? I have never heard of this. How does it effect kidneys? Creatine is a natural chemical that your body produces. It would not be effective anyway as it needs to be in your systems in higher levels for a period of time before being effective. I heard that Dr.Pepper has dianobol in it. LOL

Scooby,

As you can probably tell my apathy on this subject comes from the fact that some people really aren't truly happy unless they can find something wrong with everything. We've seen reports about every legitimate food source that says that it is dangerous to your health and so on and so forth. I'm sure many people who read this board were around when the conflicting reports about eggs came out. First they were bad for you, then they were good for you.

Now we've come to the energy drink crisis! When Gatorade first came out it was heralded as miracle water. Then some coaches decided to get samrt and claim that it was harmful because it contained glucose ( a form of sugar ). Now most peopel just see it as better tasting water. And now we come to these super energy drinks such as Amp, Red Bull, etc etc. And you are talking about how you want testing done!!! These energy drinks are not even regulated by the FDA. Why you might ask? Basically because the typical 8oz energy drink contains 80 mg of Caffine the main ingredient from which this "Energy" comes from. While an 8 oz coffee has 120 mg. As you can see this stuff is less harmful to you ( in a manner of speaking) than its coffee equivilent. By the way just for comparison. 8 oz of Coca Cola has 23 mg of Caffine, Dr. Pepper has 28 mg, and our old favorite Moutain Dew has 37mg. By the way chocolate also contains caffine naturally about 5 mg per 1 oz.

As you can see these drinks when consumed normally will not cause any detremental effects than any other caffine containing substance will. Obviously drinking 3 cans of this stuff one right after the other would be like taking no-doz, and if your body doesn't handle caffine well its probably not a good idea. However I might add caffine is like any other drug and can be fatal, want to know what the fatal dose is? At doses above 3000 mg all taken within 15 minutes which is how long it takes the human body to start metabolizing it. 3000 mgs os alot of caffine, somewhere in the neighborhood of 25-30 no-doz pills all at one, and by energy drink you would need to drink about 30 of them as well, and no human stomach can drink that much.

In conclusion, as I said before I am not going to be concerned about energy drinks harming someone until I actually see a case where its proven it does. Otherwise I might as well be worried about a great many other foods as well

Nigel- I hear you just thought your wording about waiting until it killed someone was a harsh statement- thought you might like to know

It seems that the worry is about what the kid consumes. If you care about your kid you and your kid should make the decision, seriously what about those 8 year olds cutting 10 pounds - that should be more disturbing than what they are drinking... what about "what they are NOT eating" that will hurt a child more than any energy drink alone.