sports drinks were developed to replace the water and electrolytes lost by training athletes. for athletes who spend long hours training in hot environments some supplementation with these electrolytes may make sense but for almost all ordinary child and adolescent athletes under ordinary circumstances the only thing that needs to be replaced is water. the extra sugars and vitamins won’t do anyone any good. coaches should concentrate on encouraging the best habits for young athletes: drinking water before during and after exercise. energy drinks are different. in addition to electrolytes (especially sodium) they often contain caffeine or caffeine-like compounds along with a witch’s brew of amino acids and herbal products like inositol ginsing taurine and carnitine. vitamins are often thrown into the mix as well. the calorie count of energy drinks is even higher than that of sports drinks and none of these additives is likely to genuinely improve performance — in fact it’s far more likely that children especially will experience toxic side effects rather than any kind of athletic “boost” from these concoctions.
are sports and energy drinks safe for kids?