New study urges children and teens to avoid energy drinks

A recent report published in the medical journal Pediatrics, urges pediatricians to better inform their patients -- and patients' parents -- about the dangers of energy drinks and to discourage ther use by children and teens.

Lindsey Tanner shares some of the details of this report in her article, "Pediatrics report details risks from energy drinks," which was published this morning at 12:02 a.m. ET. Additionally, she cites the experience of 18-year-old Dakota Sailor, who suffered a seizure and was hospitalized for five days after drinking two large energy drinks.

While "research is lacking on risk from long-term use and effects in kids — especially those with medical conditions that may increase the dangers" (according to the Pediatrics study, as cited in Tanner's article), major effects that set in immediately after the consumption of energy drinks include rapid heart rate, epilepsy and hallucinations, among other things. This is according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, which also report that of the more than 300 cases of energy drink poisonings among kids in 2011, 25% involved children younger than six.

Tanner writes that the American Academy of Pediatrics will soon be coming out with a clinical report "that may include guidelines for doctors."

Click here to read the full article.