Energy Drink Use and Adolescent Sleep Debt: Implications for Obesity, Cognition, and Physical Activity.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES

Energy drinks are marketed to adolescents as products that enhance alertness, concentration, and physical or sports performance, yet their use may also represent a visible marker of sleep debt and a potential contributor to disrupted 24 h behavioral patterns. This narrative review examines evidence linking energy drink consumption with adolescent sleep disturbance and considers implications for obesity risk, cognition, and physical activity.

METHODS

Targeted literature searches were conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and reference lists to identify reviews, consensus statements, policy documents, and adolescent-relevant observational or experimental studies. Evidence was synthesized narratively and classified as strong, moderate, limited, or hypothesis-generating according to study design, consistency, age specificity, and directness to the proposed pathway.

RESULTS

The strongest evidence supports associations between energy drink use and short or poor-quality sleep, and between sleep dimensions and adolescent adiposity. Experimental adolescent studies support links between sleep restriction, food choice, reward processing, cognition, and self-regulation. Evidence linking energy drink use directly to reduced physical activity is weaker and likely depends on timing, context, and user subgroup. Sugary and sugar-free products require separate interpretation: sugar-containing drinks may contribute directly to energy intake, whereas sugar-free products may still disrupt sleep through caffeine and may not remove behavioral risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Energy drink use should be considered not only as caffeine or sugar exposure, but also as a screening cue for sleep debt, fatigue, sedentary behavior, and physical activity readiness. Reducing energy drink use alone is unlikely to resolve adolescent sleep debt; multifactorial interventions that combine caffeine-timing guidance, sleep hygiene, screen management, physical activity support, and policy-level access strategies are needed.