Consumption and effects of caffeinated energy drinks in young people: an overview of systematic reviews and secondary analysis of UK data to inform policy

Posted on 8 February 2022

This review was carried out by CRD Research Fellow Claire Khouja with colleagues from CRD and the EPPI-Centre. The research was part of the NIHR Policy Research Programme Reviews Facility, and has just been published in BMJ Open.

The team conducted an overview of international evidence and an analysis of UK datasets. The international evidence suggests that up to two thirds of children have consumed energy drinks in the past year. Up to a third of UK children were drinking caffeinated energy drinks at least once a week. We found weak evidence of associations between poorer health and behaviour (headaches, sleep problems, alcohol use, smoking, irritability, and school exclusion) and children drinking caffeinated energy drinks, but an association does not mean that one causes the other and there could be another common cause, such as deprivation. Motives for drinking energy drinks included taste and for energy, and there was evidence that energy drinks improved sports performance. Weak evidence suggests that knowledge of the content of the energy drinks was poor, and children who knew that the content might be harmful drank less. Studies that survey children over time, could provide stronger evidence of associations.

The full paper appears in BMJ Open and has been featured widely in the media. The Policy Research Programme Reviews Facility is funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR).