Author(s): GRANDA, D., SURALA, O.1,2, POKRYWKA, A.2,3, MALCZEWSKA-LENCZOWSKA, J.1, SZCZEPANSKA, B.1, DZIUDZIK, H.4, Institution: INSTITUTE OF SPORT - NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, Country: POLAND, Abstract-ID: 1016

INTRODUCTION:
Following concerns about excessive caffeine intake among minors, Poland introduced a nationwide ban on energy drink sales to individuals <18 years of age. However, the real-world impact of this policy on caffeine consumption, particularly among physically active adolescents, remains unclear, including its potential influence on the use of caffeine-containing dietary supplements. Physically active children and adolescents may be particularly vulnerable to high energy drink consumption, partly due to evidence suggesting performance-enhancing effects of caffeine in aerobic exercise. However, international guidelines advise against energy drink consumption in young athletes, recommending complete avoidance in children and restricted use under parental supervision in adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate changes in self-reported caffeine intake from energy drinks among physically active adolescents before and after the implementation of the sales ban, and to complement these findings with anonymous anti-doping control records documenting recent use of caffeine-containing supplements in athlete minors.
METHODS:
Two studies using a similar methodology were conducted: first in 2022, before the ban, (n=1530, aged 10-14 years, participants of in extracurricular, organised sports activities) and the second in 2025, after the introduction of the ban (n=1083, aged 11-15, adolescents from Handball Training Centres). Estimated daily caffeine intake from EDs (mg/day) was derived by multiplying the converted mean daily consumption frequency (e.g., “less than once a month” = 0.02, “once daily or more” = 1.5) by the reported portion size, assuming an average caffeine content of 32 mg per 100 ml of the beverage. In parallel, the frequency of caffeine-containing supplement use was compared among individuals 14-17 years of age based on questionnaires completed during doping controls in 2022-2023 and 2024-2025.
RESULTS:
The percentage of energy drink consumers significantly decreased from 46.4% to 19.1% (p < 0.001). The average daily caffeine intake from energy drinks decreased from 20.8±81.2 mg/day in 2022 up to 17.2±43.3 mg/day (p = 0.023) among consumers. With regard to data from doping surveys, no statistically significant changes were observed before and after the introduction of the ban (15.5% vs 15.7%, p=0.940). To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the effectiveness of the ban in reducing caffeine consumption.
CONCLUSION:
While the sales ban successfully reduced both the prevalence of consumption and average daily caffeine intake among physically active adolescents, the absence of a corresponding decrease in caffeine-containing dietary supplement use among young athletes suggests that regulatory measures alone are insufficient. However, this difference may also be attributable to age disparities between samples, with the adolescent group being younger than the athlete cohort.