- Nearly 63% of U.S. youth under age 19 consume caffeine on any given day, according to CDC data from 2021–2023.
- Emergency room visits tied to caffeine among children ages 11–18 have doubled in recent years.
- Poison control centers logged roughly 2,700 energy-drink calls involving minors in a single recent year, a 20% spike.
Healthcare providers say zero caffeine is the best amount for children and adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics noting that over time, the caffeine that’s also often combined with sugar can increase the risk of some serious health conditions.
But the number of children ages 11 to 18 seen in emergency departments related to problems from caffeine consumption doubled between 2017 and 2024, according to a new report. And U.S. poison control centers recorded nearly 2,700 energy drink-related calls from those age 19 and under in 2023.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that between August 2021 and August 2023, nearly 63% of youth consumed caffeine on a given day, the intake increasing with age. About a third of those ages 12 to 17 say they drink energy drinks regularly.
While pediatricians and others say that children should not be consuming caffeine, it’s not reality for most and it’s also hard to avoid. Actual safe amounts, if any, are hard to calculate for kids, but for healthy adults, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that 400 milligrams a day is an amount not generally associated with negative effects.
That would be about two or three 12-ounce cups of coffee. But many products, including the energy drinks adolescents are more apt to drink, contain higher amounts of added caffeine and they aren’t required to list natural caffeine on labels.
Meanwhile, 44% of college students have mixed alcohol with energy drinks, with between 1 in 10 and 1 in 11 doing so at least biweekly. According to the Atlanta-based personal injury law firm John Foy & Associates, which took a deep dive into caffeine-related statistics and produced a report, “Caffeine can make a user feel less drunk without reducing actual impairment, and regular users show higher rates of binge drinking, impaired driving and alcohol-related injuries.”
“Caffeine-related emergency visits rose substantially among both adolescent groups (ages 11-14 and 15-18) while rates among people ages 19–35 remained nearly unchanged,” according to the report.
The pattern suggests, per the report, that “the increase identified in the clinical data is concentrated among school-age consumers rather than reflecting a broad rise across younger Americans.”
The poison center numbers provide “a separate but complementary signal,” the report adds. ”More pediatric energy drink exposure calls do not prove that energy drinks caused the increase in caffeine-related emergency visits. Still, both datasets point toward growing reasons to examine how younger consumers encounter high-caffeine products.”
As Deseret News reported in 2024, with caffeine readily available, even in products one would not think contained it, people of all ages may be exposed to more than they think they are consuming. “Caffeine consumption can add up, because it’s in so many products, from the tiny amount in an Oreo cookie, dark chocolate bar or chocolate pudding to the megadose in certain energy drinks and weight-loss supplements.”
Signs of trouble
The FDA points out that in healthy adults, “light to moderate caffeine intake seems to provide impressive health benefits in many people.” But there are limits. The article notes visible signs that one has had too much caffeine. They include:
- Increased heart rate
- Heart palpitations
- High blood pressure
- Insomnia or sleep disruptions
- Anxiety
- Jitters
- Upset stomach
- Nausea
- Headache (Interestingly, caffeine is also sometimes used to treat a migraine headache).
Healthline has a list that adds digestive issues, muscle breakdowns, dependency and increased urination.
The muscle breakdown, called rhabdomyolysis, is serious because damaged muscle fibers get in the blood stream, with complications like kidney failure. It’s not common with caffeine consumption and usually results from trauma, infection, drug abuse, muscle strain and poisonous bites, Healthline said. But “there have been several reports of rhabdomyolysis related to excessive caffeine intake,” which the article deemed “relatively rare.”
The legal firm’s analysis found a huge range of caffeine in popular energy drinks, which was largely the focus of its report. It noted that “some cans contain three times the caffeine found in a typical cup of coffee.”
And it also noted that some products are marketed to appeal to young consumers. The report’s author said that “the combination of health-oriented branding and high-stimulant content creates new questions about consumer understanding.”