Parent’s call to control sales of energy drinks to primary school pupils

Local shops are selling energy drinks to primary school children as young as 11 despite a possible upcoming ban, according to one Oban parent.

Energy drinks have a stimulating effect as they contain high levels of caffeine, taurine, vitamins and other substances. On average they contain more calories and sugar than other regular soft drinks.

In 2019 the UK Government confirmed it will ban the sale of energy drinks to children aged under 16 in England as part of its plan to reduce childhood obesity by 50 per cent by 2030. In 2019, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on a similar ban.

However, the bans have stalled in both parliaments since then and one independent think tank, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has called the plans ‘unscientific’ and ‘discriminatory’, because many energy drinks contain less sugar than popular soft drinks.

Most major supermarkets have already barred under-16s from buying the drinks. This month a concerned parent in Oban became aware of the ease with which under-16s can buy energy drinks. ‘My son is 11,’ he began. ‘He has been able to purchase energy drinks with no questions asked.’

The father said that one night he noticed ‘something off’ in the behaviour of his son and a 12-year-old family member.

He described them as ‘high’, ‘up too late’ - until 3.30am or 4am. He said: ‘The next day they are dead as doornails. Pasty, peely-wally.’ His son’s attention, he added, ‘is not as it should be’ for school.

He continued: ‘We found a bag of eight energy drinks.’ The boy admitted buying the cans from a local shop. ‘Maybe they are not identifying children under age,’ he said.

On a second occasion, he found his son trying to hide another four cans in the house.

‘Over a fortnight, he has purchased 24 energy drinks,’ he said. ‘It is a shock it’s so widely available.’

‘If there is no control, if it is so freely given out, then that is four more years it is available’ for his primary school age son.

Another local parent told us they found their 11-year-old with a can of energy drink. He told his parents he had only bought one because he knew he was not allowed them - even though it was buy-one-getone-free at the shop.

‘Before adulthood it should not be allowed,’ the parent said. ‘I would say they should be made illegal. I have seen the effects on adults. It alters their personality, their attitude, the way they behave.’