At my children’s school tuckshop a vast amount of fridge space is devoted to variants of brightly coloured “sports drinks” - many of them being consumed routinely as cooldrink by children who barely raise a sweat, ever.

Is this a problem?

Well, the American Academy of Paediatrics thinks it is: the academy recently published a clinical report “Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents - Are They Appropriate?”

Its main objective was to explain the differences between sports drinks and energy drinks - terms which are often used interchangeably - and discuss misuses and abuses, as well as to encourage medical professionals to screen for sports and energy drink use during physical examinations, “to understand why youth consumption is widespread and to improve education aimed at decreasing or eliminating the inappropriate use of these beverages for children and adolescents”.

If there’s been any education in this country on this issue, I’ve missed it.

For starters, what are these relentlessly marketed, ever more popular beverages?

Sports drinks are usually brightly coloured, flavoured beverages that contain mainly carbohydrates (usually mostly sugar), minerals and electrolytes such as sodium and potassium.

Their marketing suggests they optimise athletic performance and replacement of fluid and electrolytes lost in sweat during and after exercise.

Energy drinks typically contain stimulants such as caffeine and guarana, with varying amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, vitamins, sodium and other minerals.

Energy drinks are a no-no for children altogether, according to the report.

Its authors expressed concern about children drinking caffeine-containing drinks such as colas and the more potent energy drinks because of “caffeine’s effects on the developing neurological and cardiovascular systems and the risk of physical dependence and addiction”.

A study found that American children aged six to 10 consumed caffeine on eight out of 10 days, on average.

As for sports drinks, child athletes can benefit from using sports drinks containing carbohydrates, protein or electrolytes, it said, “but for the average child engaged in routine physical activity, the use of sports drinks in place of water on the sports field or in the school lunchroom is generally unnecessary”.

“Frequent consumption of sports drinks (by children) affects the appropriate balance of carbohydrate, fat, and protein needed for optimal growth, development, body composition and health.”

What both sedentary and active children should be drinking is water, the report says.

“Children and adolescents should be taught to drink water routinely as an initial beverage of choice… it is generally the appropriate first choice for hydration before, during and after most exercise regimens.”

There is little need for carbohydrate-containing beverages other than the recommended daily intake of fruit juice and low-fat milk, the report said.

And sports drinks are certainly “not indicated” for use during meals or snacks, as a replacement for milk or water.

Sports drinks are only appropriate for “youth who exercise with prolonged vigorous intensity”, especially in hot, humid environments.

Apart from their links to obesity, sports drinks have also been fingered for tooth decay.

“Most sports drinks have a pH in the acidic range… which is associated with enamel demineralisation,” the report said.

“And citric acid frequently used in sports drinks has been found to be highly erosive.”

So why is the consumption of sports drinks so widespread among children and adolescents?

They drink them for taste, to quench thirst, and extra energy to improve sports performance, according to a survey.

In the US, the manufacturers of fizzy drinks - “full calorie sodas” - such as Coca-Cola, having voluntarily agreed to phase them out, are now “heavily promoting” sports drinks as a healthier alternative, the report says.

Sports drinks increased their market share in US schools from 14.6 percent in 2004 to 20 percent in the 2006 to 2007 school year, while the market share for beverages such as Coke dropped from 39.9 percent to 29.9 percent.

Connecticut became the first, and so far only, state to pass legislation barring sports drinks and “enhanced waters” in schools.

And in April 2007, the Institute of Medicine published a report in which it recommended that schools restrict sports drinks to use by athletes only during prolonged, vigorous sports activities; ban the use of energy drinks, even for athletes; and ban the sale of caffeinated products at schools.

Consumer Watch asked the director of the University of Cape Town/Medical Research Council’s research unit for exercise science and sports medicine, Professor Tim Noakes, for his views on the report’s recommendations, given that fluid balance during exercise is one of his key research interests.

He is emphatic that children shouldn’t be drinking sports drinks any more than they should be drinking “Pepsi or Coke”.

“The main reason is that a high consumption of carbohydrates is strongly linked to obesity,” he said.

By allowing children to consume such drinks routinely, he said, parents were getting them addicted to sweet drinks.

No one doing anything less than two hours of sustained vigorous exercise needed to consume a sports drink, Noakes said.

Also, he said, sports drinks were usually high in sodium, which was harmful if consumed in high doses.

“It’s a turf war out there with these drinks - the sports drinks industry is marketing itself as being healthier than energy drinks.

“The reality is that children, in most cases, should be drinking neither - what they should be drinking is water because the brain becomes addicted to sugar - a carbohydrate - and craves more and more…

“I feel very strongly about this. We live in a society which over-promotes carbohydrate consumption, which conditions a child’s brain to look for sweetness, which their bodies aren’t designed to cope with in huge doses.”

* An examination of sports drink labels reveals widely ranging levels of total kilojoule content, sugar, sodium and potassium.

Highest sodium content was Energade at 205mg per 500ml (compared with Powerade’s 120mg), although the kilojoule count of both was the same - 645kJ per 500ml.

Energade contains 39ml of carbs per 500ml, of which 28g (5.6 per 100ml) are sugar; compared with USN’s Active Sports Drink’s 37.5g of sugar per 500ml - more than in a 330ml can of Coke.

The “low GI” Energade Champs product, in a smaller 300ml bottle featuring an image of a young boy playing cricket, has far less sugar than that of regular Energade - 3.2g per 100ml or 9.6g in the 300ml.

So a child who drinks an entire 500m of Energade would be ingesting 28g of sugar, versus 9.6g of sugar if they chose the 300ml Energade Champs variant.

Interestingly, Lucozade’s “Energy” drink, sold alongside sport drinks brands, contains no electrolytes or caffeine, just a lot of sugar - 10.2g per 100ml or 30.6g per its 300ml bottle. - Pretoria News

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