The State Duma again attended to the ban on “power engineers” for children: doctors supported

The State Duma again, for the umpteenth time, took care of the topic of banning the sale of “energy drinks” to minors. The fact is that there is still no federal law, although they tried to pass it for many years, starting in 2014, and in 28 regions of the Russian Federation, a “destructive (according to doctors) mixture” is quietly sold to kids. “MK” found out what is harmful in these drinks, and is it worth taking such drastic measures to ban it?

Due to the fact that there is no general legislation, this issue is in the area of ​​responsibility of the leadership of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In this regard, the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin launched a poll in his Telegram, should such restrictions be introduced everywhere, that is, at the federal level? “Yes” – answered 90% of his subscribers. Many of the commentators are radical: “They should be banned not only for children, but for everyone! They are even harmful to adults – the heart beats even from one can.

“A bill has been submitted to the State Duma to ban the retail sale of non-alcoholic energy drinks to persons under 18,” Yana Lantratova, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education, told MK. – If the law is passed, the ban will come into force on September 1, 2023. The worst thing is that “energy” can now be freely bought even in educational organizations. But these are not as safe drinks as some might think. In addition to the high content of sugar and caffeine, they contain harmful substances. And some kids drink them every day! I know many stories from my friends that they forbid their children to buy them, but they still buy them. Obviously, such a ban at the federal level is not in the interests of manufacturers, but the health of our children is more important to us.

“When I was 11-12 years old, my peers and I often drank these same “energy drinks” in company,” said Yulia, a Muscovite, now a young doctor. – Drinking to feel cool! After all, these drinks seem to be considered “adults.” Like, they imagined that you were drinking alcohol. It seemed to us that you immediately recharged with energy or even began to feel intoxicated. But I think it was more like self-hypnosis.

The fact that energy drinks are a really dangerous thing, especially for a growing body, we were convinced by a cardiologist, professor at the Department of Faculty Therapy of the Faculty of Physiology of the Russian National Research Medical University. N.I. Pirogova, doctor of medical sciences Alfred Bogdanov:

“Energy drinks—despite being a legal product—increase blood pressure, increase heart rate, and also increase peripheral vascular resistance. They contribute to the production of various stimulating internal hormones – cortisol, adrenaline, which increase the excitability of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.

For most adults, they have a tonic effect, and, in general, this is acceptable, except in situations where energy drinks are combined with alcohol. If they are used together with alcohol, then various toxic lesions can occur, primarily the liver, kidneys, brain and heart. There are quite a lot of such clinical cases, and such patients regularly come to our intensive care unit.

Children, of course, most often do not interfere with energy drinks with alcohol, but excessive stimulation is certainly harmful to their health. They increase the excitability of the nervous system of the child, worsen sleep, disrupt the regulation of the cardiovascular system. In a child, this system is in a state of development, formation, and therefore all such stimulating substances interfere with the functioning of the regulatory components of the nervous system. And this is a direct road, for example, to various autonomic disorders in adolescents.

To summarize, there are three main harmful effects when children drink such drinks: the first is a violation of the autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system (increased blood pressure and pulse). The second is the provocation of various cardiac arrhythmias. The third is a direct effect on the nervous system itself, an increase in its excitability, a violation of the activity of regulatory centers.

However, if you turn to the comments of users on the Web, you can see different opinions about the upcoming ban on “energy” for children. A much more acute problem, many adults consider vapes, which “everyone smokes in schools.” “It is more important to fight against the fact that children freely buy nicotine-containing liquids for electronic cigarettes,” says Olga, a Muscovite, mother of two schoolchildren. “And vaping and smoking should be banned, these electronic “nipples”, the target audience for this business is children, schoolchildren,” some parents say.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28948 dated January 12, 2023

Newspaper headline:
“Energy” death