Everybody knows the feeling when a parent or an adult tells you, “Don’t eat that, it’s bad for you!” 

Odds are, you roll your eyes and ignore them.

As a kid trying to navigate high school, I am one of many that have fallen into the routine of grabbing an energy drink in the morning, eating pizza or a bag of chips at lunch, and then running to Starbucks after school to grab a coffee. Although I am aware of the dangers of consistently eating a lackluster amount of essential nutrients and protein, I always fall back into that routine because of how accessible it is. 

In addition to being too lazy to make my own food, I always gravitate towards drinks with high caffeine content because I am always tired from being up late at night doing homework. The caffeine gives me the energy I need to get through the day, and the drinks taste good, which is an added bonus.

While energy drinks have been relevant for many years, there has been an increasing trend of drinking as much caffeine as possible for high school students. 

Liana Chaves, a junior at LHS, admitted that she has energy drinks and coffees “every single day,” going as far as substituting an Alani for her breakfast on most school days. 

This unhealthy trend doesn’t stop with the students, however. LHS math teacher Mr. Nacsin says that he drinks “coffee; too much of it” in addition to energy drinks “about every other day, maybe more during the spring when [he is] coaching.”

These drinks, while accessible and popular, come with some possible side effects. According to the National Library of Medicine, the levels of caffeine found in energy drinks can lead to addiction or dependency similar to that of alcohol and drugs because of the incomplete development of teenagers’ brains.

Similarly, excessive amounts of caffeine can lead to serious heart issues, and may even lead to high blood pressure and blood circulation issues. 

Aside from the issue of caffeine levels, the sugar and sugar substitute content amounts for a sizable percentage of these drinks. If not sweetened by large amounts of sugar, the drinks contain sugar alternatives, the most recognizable being sucralose. In addition to the negative effects of drinking high amounts of sugar, these substitutes have been proven to be connected to metabolic syndrome, obesity, and even cancer.

As previously mentioned, it’s not like nobody warns us against drinking these caffeinated beverages. When asked whether they believe their diet choices affect them positively or negatively, Liana and Nacsin were both quick to accept the fact that they weren’t making the best choices for their health.

So, if people know the dangers of these drinks’ contents, why do people still drink them?

The main reason these drinks are often a go-to for high schoolers is for the energy boost. With the caffeine levels provided, it allows for increased focus and brain function, which is appealing to sleep-deprived teens trying to stay awake in math class.

Another cause for this energy-drink frenzy is its popularity. The brands Alani and Celsius, in particular, have gained traction on social media platforms like TikTok, where it has become normalized and popular to drink their products. Their promotions of new flavors and packaging creates a constant demand, which explains how teens (who can be easily influenced) would feel inclined to reach for those familiar-looking cans.

The diet of teenagers tells a similarly disappointing story.

Everyone in the high school has probably had a teacher who would randomly survey the class and ask, “Who eats breakfast in the mornings?”

In most of my classes, maybe two people would raise their hands.

The most important meal of the day has been cut out by the vast majority of teenagers, which is not easy to recover from. In order to get proper amounts of proteins, fruits and vegetables, nutrients, and carbohydrates, they would have to stick to a relatively strict diet during lunch and dinner to compensate for the loss of breakfast. Even if you’re able to compensate for the nutritional loss of skipping breakfast, having no food in your system until lunchtime can upset your internal clock, which would also negatively affect your health.

Unfortunately, eating nutritious foods and prioritizing health isn’t the goal of high schoolers at lunchtime. One of our LHS cafeteria staff, Tracy LaFever, stated that the most bought items in the lunch lines were “pizza, cookies, chips, and ice cream.”

When asked if she thinks the majority of students eat a healthy lunch, she said, “no, they’re eating mostly unhealthy items while our regular lunch line offers a well-rounded meal.”

This ties back into my earlier question: Why choose the most unhealthy option?

I think most of these issues address the problem of herd mentality. “Everybody else is drinking Alanis, so I might as well have one too.” “I see everyone at lunch with chips instead of a hot lunch, so I should get chips, too.” The issue of fitting into the crowd is ever present, which isn’t too surprising. It’s still high school, after all. 

Another important facet to teenage decision-making is accessibility. Nobody wants to be burdened with waking up early to make breakfast, when it’s so easy to roll out of bed and head right to school. Nobody wants to wait in a lunch line, when they can walk right up to get chips and head straight to their table. 

While taking a few extra steps or waking up a few minutes earlier may seem daunting, eating the right foods works wonders to creating a stable and reliable source of energy for your day.

While energy drinks supply a short-lived supply of energy, it isn’t sustainable enough to power you through your entire day. Compounding this with a general trend of carb-heavy meals at lunch, students are relying primarily on short-term energy sources to last them throughout the school day.

I stand alongside most of my classmates when it comes to making unhealthy diet choices, but I believe small changes can greatly improve your overall health and energy levels. 

Instead of grabbing a bag of cookies at lunch, take a few extra minutes to wait in the lunch line. Instead of getting a Celsius at the gas station, opt for something just as delicious but a little more health-conscious.

These small changes may seem insignificant, but putting your health first is a valuable priority that you can easily instill in your day-to-day life.