With exams coming up, a full class schedule and a part-time job, high school student Alexie Tower often relies on a caffeine boost to stay focused and alert throughout the day.
She doesn’t enjoy the taste of coffee, or the high price of it these days. Instead, the Fredericton Grade 12 student prefers an energy drink, purchased in bulk. She has one every morning during first period.
The 355-millilitre (12-ounce) serving comes in brightly coloured cans, boasting its sugar-free contents are packed with vitamins B6 and B12, biotin and taurine. But it also packs a hefty caffeine punch of 140 milligrams.
Health Canada recommends no more than 2.5 mg of caffeine per kilogram of body weight for those under 18. But with energy drinks containing anywhere from 80 mg to 180 mg of caffeine in Canada, it’s an easy limit to exceed.
Although the beverages aren’t sold in New Brunswick schools, Tower said they’re especially popular among teenagers.
“Everyone in class drinks them,” she said. “There were at least like 10 people in my class this morning drinking them. And the recycling bins, especially third period, are filled with them.”
Alexie Tower usually consumes one energy drink in the morning at school and says they’re a popular choice among students. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)
Tower usually sticks to one energy drink per day, and said any more than that keeps her awake at night.
But there are more serious side-effects for the growing number of young people taking medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
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