By: Katie Nelson

Media Production Editor

In the past few decades, consumption of highly caffeinated drinks has skyrocketed, especially by young adults. Celsius, RedBull, and Starbucks have created drinks that are appealing to the eye and enjoyable to drink. With new flavors every season or endless options to choose from, there’s a lot that makes drinking caffeine exciting. Pop culture has embedded caffeine into part of our everyday lives, to the point where it is trendy to carry a coffee with you to first period at school and bring a Celcius to class after lunch. Drinking caffeine has rapidly become normalized among high school students, and the effects of this normalization are not being properly addressed. While a little caffeine isn’t inherently problematic, the lack of responsibility among students and parents alike is an issue. 

I’m not arguing that caffeine is bad – only that the number of young people already relying on it is worrisome. Drinking caffeine is a habit that stays with you often for your entire life, and while being dependent on caffeine isn’t life threatening, caffeine has been linked to other health issues such as a lack of bone density, calcium deficiency, acute toxicity, and cardiovascular disease. 

Many also fail to realize that drinking caffeine as a young adult is drastically more harmful than drinking it at an older age. Adolescent medicine specialist Rebecca M. Beyda states that although it is alright for adults to have up to 400 mg of caffeine per day, the limit is much lower for people under 17 because their bodies are more sensitive, and for optimal growth and health it’s best to limit caffeine consumption to 100 mg a day. For reference, a 16-oz grande coffee at Starbucks contains 330 mg of caffeine, Prime contains 200mg, Monster has 160 mg, and Celcius has 200 mg. The disparity between the recommended amount of caffeine for kids and the amount that they are drinking is large. It is concerning the lack of discussion surrounding this because the reality is that kids drink these things often, sometimes every day, and sometimes more than once a day. While the effects of caffeine may appear benign or not imminent, caffeine in young adults can have a variety of side effects from headaches, shaking, and an upset stomach, to irregular heartbeats, seizures, and depression. 

While some countries such as Canada have banned certain energy drinks, there is no national age regulation on the purchase of high-caffeine energy drinks in the US. Whether a blanket ban on these drinks is needed is still debated, educators, health professionals, and public officials need to address the rising consumption of high-energy drinks in young adults. 

(Sources: National Library of Medicine, Reuters, Sutter Health, Undark)

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