Drive for Big Profits Sparks Caffeine Drink for Toddlers

Would you give your 4-year-old a cup of fully caffeinated coffee? How about Red Bull?

I can just imagine the results in our house if I started giving our toddler son Seth the stuff:

Morning: Seth wakes up at 11 a.m. with a caffeine withdrawal headache. Up too late for preschool, we put a cold compress on his head and get him going with a nice steaming cup of coffee. Don’t worry, we put some milk in it for nutritional value. “Thanks dad, I’m feeling better already.”

Afternoon: After he breaks every glass object inside the house, we put Seth out back so he can bounce freely in the yard. He pulls down a few of the smaller trees, but that’s okay because I’m behind in gardening chores.

Evening: After trying to get Seth to bed for a few hours, we give up and stick him in front of the TV. Three movies later, he conks out shortly after midnight.

If you haven’t guessed, there is NO WAY IN HELL I’d ever give Seth caffeine – except for a little chocolate – while he’s a youngster. But that’s exactly what AdvoCare wants me to do, reports The New York Times.

AvoCare’s drink KickStart Spark, which reportedly tastes like Kool-Aid, is an attempt to get athletes ages 4-11 to consume more caffeine in a single serving than the 45 milligrams adults receive from a single cup of coffee. Considering as an adult I can barely handle 5-10 milligrams of caffeine each day, I can only imagine what the 60 milligrams a serving does to a toddler.

Once youngsters are fully addicted, they can upgrade to Spark, a sister drink for kids 12 and up. This drink contains a whopping 120 milligrams of caffeine, which is equal to almost three cups of coffee.

“It’s not just a caffeine delivery system; it has many more nutritional properties,” comes the lame explanation from Sidney Stohs, a company vice president. You mean like the taurine you put in this concoction on the theory it enhances the absorption of caffeine?

What are the dangers of pouring caffeine into a tyke? Surprisingly, little research has been done, but apparently it “can make children more emotionally unstable, hyperactive and irritable, and less attentive in school,” writes the Times. Gee, sounds like Attention Deficit Disorder.

So why would an American company treat the well-being of children with such disrespect other than to make money? To make more money, of course:

“I am concerned that they are gateway substances,” Frank Uryasz, president of the National Center for Drug Free Sport and administrator of college drug testing programs, tells the Times. “I think it develops a mind-set especially among young athletes that they have to take something – a powder, a pill, a liquid – to improve their performance, when actually study after study shows that almost all of these products add no value to a young person’s athletic performance.”

Ah but Frank, you were missing the point. These companies are not trying to enhance the athletes’ performance, they are trying to enhance their own profit performance. To heck with whether it is good for kids or not.

Comments

[chip]

what are these people thinking????? (I mean the parents who let their kids drink this stuff)

[brettdl]

I've met some of these people. They think 1. that if it's on the market, it must be good and 2. it goes back to that super-competitiveness we've chatted about before. Some people will do anything to give their kids an edge.

[Phil]

Be careful with judging other parents... I got ripped apart this morning. We're not supposed to be judgemental about anything, remember?!

[chip]

judgmentalism be damned, if these people think giving their kids caffeine is giving them some kind of competitive advantage they are idiots; it seems like common sense than in fact this would perhaps permanently disadvantage these kids.

I'm not against older kids having coffee, as they do in France for example, mixing half coffee half milk. but this is much different, this is actually feeding them massive amounts of caffeine!

[Grace]

My just turned 5-year-old doesn't even drink full strength orange juice! I can't imagine giving her something caffeinated (other than an occassional hot chocolate).

[Truth]

At the risk of somebody throwing me out, I remember Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, where she wants to cure a child of alcohol, she uses something bitter, so that child associates bitter taste with alcohol and stays away from it. Children want to act like grown ups don't they? This strategy might help.

[brettdl]

Phil: I do need to be careful about sounding judgmental of parents -- most simply do not understand the dangers of what they're doing. I also have to be careful to not come across as condescending. It's tough to inform or express an opinion in a constructive manner.

On the other hand, I feel entirely justified in slamming American businesses that need to be spanked for mistreating our children.

Chip: If caffeine was discovered today, it would be a controlled substance right out of the starting gate. It's not just about the caffeine but the way it is perceived by children:

The cafe lifestyle mixed with conversation and good food is associated with drinking coffee and tea. But winning at all costs mixed with performance-enhancing drugs is associated with drinking Spark and to a lesser degree, Gatorade.

Grace: Yeah, we gave Seth weak fruit juice a few weeks ago and all it did was make him a little more hyper and have his first pee accident in months. I think water is the best beverage on the planet.

Truth: Maybe, but a good marketer can persuade you that eating dirt tastes good. Otherwise, caffeine-free, diet Coke wouldn't sell. ;--)

[Renee]

This is horrifying! And so sad that this company can stand up and try to rationalize what is obviously a money-making, addict-the-kids-early scheme. Milk and water is all my kids will drink - and I'm happy with that.

[Phil]

My kids have root beer and lemonade every now and then, maybe once a week at dinner or lunch, and we've never had a problem with them being any more hyper than they already are.

We've made the kids understand that in our house there are two snacks that are always available and free to them, no matter what: carrots and water. They each have their own water bottles they tote around. It's a good habit to get kids into. I wish my mom had done that for me. It took me forever to see water as a palatable liquid and not just something you wash yourself with.

[brettdl]

We do the same thing at our home. The other day Seth asked for more cookies than I thought he should have. I told him he can have as many grapes as he wants, but two cookies a day are the limit.

You know what? He said okay, I'll eat grapes. He didn't complain at all.

[Jim]

This is a society (and don't get me wrong, I'm no Tom Cruise) that is all-too-ready to prescribe mood-stabilizers for the slightest personality quirk. It should come as no surprise that liquid speed for jolting little ones out of their natural play-state into 'Type-A' monsters would hit the market.

Pour them a "Jolt", slip them a Zoloft, and put on the "Praise" CD - all will be well... heh.

[brettdl]

lol

[Ontario Emperor]

I still remember back in the 1960s when my grandmother, who was a teacher, convinced me that it was a bad thing to have Coke machines in elementary schools. I didn't ALWAYS listen to my grandmother ("Our governor's running for President," said my Alabama-born grandmother), but I remembered about the Coke machines. Luckily she didn't live to see this.

[brettdl]

OE: I remember when I was graduating high school there was talk of McDonald's taking over the cafeteria: all the kids were ecstatic. But even at that age, I thought it strange that such a huge commercial company should be taking over a high school's food service.

That's probably because my mom always taught us to think of MickeyDs as a treat, not a primary source of food. She also told us to avoid the vending machines in high school, but that really wasn't much trouble since I never had any money. We were also taught that caffeinated drinks were for adults, not children.

[Dan]

My son is 21 months. My wife likes to let him sip from our coffee cup. I think it's bad to give him any caffeine at this age. I'm trying to be fair and provide some evidence. Trouble is I google'd the topic and found nothing. Am I wrong?

[brettdl]

If you want some good evidence, ask your pediatrician. Or look here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/kids032399.htm

[Are you serious?]

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.

A cup of drip coffee usually has about 100mg of caffeine. Many diet sodas have 50-60mgs.

We understand the problems of giving caffeine to kids, but please do not overstate your case by using nonsensical numbers.

[brettdl]

Huh? You assign more caffeine to coffee than I did. And the higher number refers to a specific drink, not diet sodas in general.

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