Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Concerns grow over rise in caffeine consumption among teens
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By Lee Hae-rin
Overconsumption of caffeine at young age could lead to mental health consequences: experts
Lee, a 19-year-old high school student based in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, said high-caffeine beverages, such as coffee and energy drinks, are a necessity to aid her in her studies, as she has had a hectic academic schedule ahead of the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT) slated for November this year.
The annual CSAT is the national college entrance exam, which is regarded by many Korean students as one of the most important academic events of their lives, as the results of the exam largely determine whether or not they can enter top universities here.
“With the CSAT just around the corner, my friends and I only sleep three to four hours a day to make a final spurt,” Lee said. “We drink coffee and energy drinks all the time. The study room that I go to after school even offers energy drinks for its members.”
A Seoul-based convenience store manager whose surname is Kim, 55, said that teenage students from the neighborhood buy most of their energy drinks from his shop.
“They come in the afternoon or late at night to buy energy drinks,” Kim said. “That’s where most of our sales on energy drinks come from, and I worry about what it does to their health.”
Seoul-based student Jeong, 13, who entered middle school earlier this year, also said that she regularly drinks coffee four to five times a week.
“I’ve seen older students at my school do it, so my friends and I are doing the same. These coffees that come in giant cups are cheap and can be found everywhere,” she said, adding that she “can’t help it,” because she is “always exhausted and sleepy" when studying at a private academy after school.
Under the Special Act on Safety Management of Children’s Dietary Lifestyle, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety "may recommend the manufacturers of high caffeine-containing foods to use visible red color on their products so that children can easily recognize them."
According to the ministry, the high-caffeine foods refer to those containing over 15 milligrams of caffeine for every 100 milliliters.
The ministry’s suggested caffeine intake for minors is 2.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, which is significantly lower than an adult’s intake which is set at 400 milligrams per kilogram.
According to this standard, a teenager weighing 50 kg, which is close to the nation’s average for a 13-year-old, should ingest 125 milligrams per day.
However, the amount is easily surpassed by just drinking a regular Americano, which is known to contain around 200 milligrams of caffeine, or more than an energy drink can, which contains 60 to 100 milligrams of caffeine
A warning sticker highlighting possible side effects of caffeine consumption among minors is posted on a refrigerator containing energy drinks at an unidentified convenience store in this photo provided on April 13. Courtesy of Ministry of Food and Drug Saftey
Amid growing concerns over the overconsumption of caffeine by teenagers and its potential side effects, the government has banned the sales of high-caffeine foods at school cafeterias and vending machines in September 2018.
However, 22.3 percent of teenage students still consume high-caffeine drinks more than three times a week, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)’s latest survey of over 60,000 students nationwide last year.
The figure has continuously gone up. In 2015 it stood at 3.3 percent, then in 2017, it was 8 percent and in 2019, it was 12.2 percent.
This growing consumption trend of caffeine among minors is partially due to the enhanced accessibility of food containing caffeine, especially when considering the rise of cheaply-priced coffee shops, as demonstrated in Jeong’s case.
Several brands, including Mega Coffee and Compose Coffee have emerged amid inflation and started selling large coffees at affordable prices, ranging from 1,500 won ($1.1) to 2,000 won in recent years.
The country’s energy drink market has also grown rapidly and reached 180 trillion won as of 2022. The energy drink market's annual growth rate has been over 30% since 2019.
Experts warn that the overconsumption of caffeine at a young age could be harmful to both physical and mental health.
Several studies show that caffeine intake could lead to severe health consequences, such as sleep disorders, anxiety, headaches and a rise in blood pressure. Among minors, it can disturb the absorption of calcium, which could hinder growth and development, while resulting in excess acid and gastrointestinal disturbances.
Also, adolescents who consume high-caffeine drinks more frequently are prone to mental health issues, including stress, fatigue after sleep, sadness and despair and suicidal ideation, according to a study published in 2017 in the Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture.