{"id":22273,"date":"2025-10-26T18:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T17:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=22273"},"modified":"2025-10-26T15:59:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T14:59:36","slug":"experts-warn-of-silent-epidemic-as-energy-drinks-flood-nigerian-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/26\/experts-warn-of-silent-epidemic-as-energy-drinks-flood-nigerian-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Experts Warn of \u201cSilent Epidemic\u201d as Energy Drinks Flood Nigerian Markets."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

LAGOS, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Health experts, parents, and government officials are warning against the growing consumption of energy drinks among children, saying the products are \u201cnutritionally empty\u201d and could cause long-term health problems.

Dr. Owoyemi, a public health nutritionist, said the drinks give a false sense of vitality while depriving the body of essential nutrients.

\u201cThese drinks give a false sense of energy but starve the body of what it truly needs,\u201d Owoyemi said. \u201cRegular consumption stresses the developing body, contributes to weight gain, and denies children the nutrients required for proper growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He urged parents to discourage their children from drinking caffeinated or sugar-loaded beverages, emphasizing that \u201cchildren need food that nourishes their growing bodies and brains.\u201d

\u201cEnergy drinks offer none of that,\u201d he said. \u201cThey contain only sugar, caffeine, and short-term stimulation. The long-term cost to their nutrition and health can be enormous.\u201d

Several parents who spoke with reporters shared similar concerns. \u201cMy 12-year-old son started having trouble sleeping after taking these drinks during football practice,\u201d said Ngozi Udeh, a mother of two in Lagos. \u201cWe didn\u2019t realize how much caffeine they contained until a doctor warned us.\u201d

Another parent, Mr. Sani Musa, described the marketing of energy drinks to children as \u201cirresponsible,\u201d calling for tighter government regulation. \u201cThese drinks are being sold beside soft drinks in schools and malls. Kids think they\u2019re safe,\u201d he said.

Health officials with Nigeria\u2019s Ministry of Health said the government is monitoring the situation and considering stricter advertising and labeling guidelines.

\u201cWe\u2019re aware of the growing concern about energy drink consumption among minors,\u201d ministry spokesperson Adeola Akinyemi said. \u201cWe are reviewing policies to ensure that manufacturers provide clear warnings and that these products are not marketed to children.\u201d

Consumer rights advocates have also called for schools to ban the sale of energy drinks, urging parents and teachers to educate children about the risks.

\u201cChildren are not small adults \u2014 their systems are still developing,\u201d said health campaigner Bisi Adeyemi. \u201cAllowing them to consume high doses of caffeine and sugar is a ticking health time bomb.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LAGOS, Nigeria (FN) \u2014 Health experts, parents, and government officials are warning against the growing consumption of energy drinks among children, saying the products are \u201cnutritionally empty\u201d and could cause long-term health problems. Dr. Owoyemi, a public health nutritionist, said the drinks give a false sense of vitality while depriving the body of essential nutrients. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,20,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health-fitness","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/images-6.jpeg?fit=576%2C384&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22273"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22423,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22273\/revisions\/22423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}