Alana Ellenburg, teacher at Pepperell High School, will speak on the affects of energy drinks on high school students at the Southeastern Conference of the American College of Sports Medicine in Birmingham this Saturday.  Ms. Ellenburg will present her findings in a study of students and their perceptions of high energy drinks.  The study was conducted as part of Ellenburg’s work on her educational specialist degree at Jacksonville State University.

Ellenburg hopes to encourage awareness of parents and students to the possible physical affects to the body, as well as the mental affects, of drinking energy drinks.  She said, “We have a lot of students that feel energy drinks make them perform better in the classroom, on tests and exams, and/or in athletics and there is not sufficient evidence to support this.”  In the study, student’s top two responses to why they purchase energy drinks were: because my friends do and because of store advertising. 

The study surveyed high school students about their use and opinions of energy drinks.  In the survey, 72% of those responding said that they consumed energy drinks.  Those students who considered themselves over-weight consumed a larger percentage of energy drinks than other students.  While the energy drinks are targeted to athletes, the study found that students who were not athletes consumed more energy drinks per day and per week than students who participated in athletics.  Of athletes consuming energy drinks the groups consuming the most energy drinks were students participating in football and wrestling. 

The production and supply of energy drinks is more than a 3.4 billion dollar industry. This new industry has grown very quickly in the last five years and has become a common beverage consumed by society. Ellenburg said, “The ingredients of these energy drinks are a combination of caffeine and other substances that act as stimulants. This stimulant consumption is not regulated and it may be a problem in adolescent and pre-adolescent children.” The purpose of Ellenburg’s study was to analyze consumption habits in high school students and athletes. She concluded, “Our students and their parents need to think seriously about the consequences energy drinks could have on them and their health.”