Combining energy drinks with booze heightens abusive drinking in teens

Mixing energy drinks with booze increases risk of abusive drinking in teenagers by 4 times, claims a new study.

Led by James D. Sargent, MD, at Dartmouth's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, the team looked at a sample of 3,342 adolescents and young adults aged 15-23 years old recruited across the U.S., and found that 9.7 percent of adolescents aged 15-17 years old had consumed an energy drink mixed with alcohol.

Analyses showed that group to have greatly increased odds of not just binge drinking, but also clinically defined criteria for alcohol use disorder.

First author Jennifer A. Emond, MSc, PhD said that abusive alcohol use among adolescents was a dangerous behavior that could lead to injury, chronic alcohol use and abuse, and even death, and hence identifying those most at risk for alcohol use was critical.

The study is published in the Journal of Pediatrics.