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Thousands Of Poison Control Calls Linked To Kids And Energy Drinks

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - There's some alarming new data concerning young children and energy drinks.

Looking at records from the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System, researchers noticed that in a two-year period there were more than 5,000 calls regarding energy drinks and young children to Poison Control Centers across the country.

More than 40 percent of those calls involved kids under six who drank these energy drinks — some those kids having suffered abnormal heart rhythms, seizures or other serious heart of neurological symptoms.

The researchers are urging parents to keep these drinks away from young children and want companies to provide better labeling about the health consequences linked to these drinks.

"Energy drinks have no place in pediatric diets," said Steven Lipshultz, M.D., the study's senior author and professor and chair of pediatrics at Wayne State University and pediatrician-in-chief at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. "And anyone with underlying cardiac, neurologic or other significant medical conditions should check with their healthcare provider to make sure it's safe to consume energy drinks."

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association's annual meeting in Chicago over the weekend.

[Get more information HERE].

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