No study has ever shown that drinking energy drinks directly stunts height in children or teenagers. The idea persists because energy drinks contain caffeine and sugar in quantities that can interfere with hormones and sleep patterns involved in growth, but the leap from “plausible biological concern” to “proven growth stunting” has not been made in human research. What the science does show is a handful of indirect pathways through which heavy energy drink consumption during adolescence could theoretically compromise growth, along with a longer list of health risks that are far better documented and arguably more urgent.
What Caffeine Does to Growth-Related Hormones
Growth hormone and a related molecule called IGF-1 are the main chemical drivers of height gain during childhood and puberty. A few studies have found that caffeine can temporarily dampen both. In one trial, young men who consumed caffeine before resistance exercise showed a blunted growth hormone response compared to those who took a placebo, an effect the researchers attributed to caffeine raising free fatty acid levels in the blood, which in turn suppresses growth hormone release.1PubMed Central. Caffeine attenuates acute growth hormone response to a single bout of resistance exercise A separate study found that caffeine intake during sleep deprivation reduced IGF-1 levels, though only in people carrying a specific genetic variant of an enzyme involved in caffeine metabolism.2PubMed. Effects of Acute Caffeine Intake on Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Responses to Total Sleep Deprivation: Interactions with COMT Polymorphism – A Randomized, Crossover Study
These are real biological findings, but they come with caveats that matter. Both studies looked at acute, short-term effects in adults, not chronic consumption in growing adolescents. A temporary dip in growth hormone after a single dose of caffeine is a very different thing from a sustained suppression that would actually slow bone elongation over months or years. Nobody has demonstrated that second step in humans.
The animal evidence is more dramatic. In immature male rats given caffeine during the equivalent of puberty, longitudinal bone growth was impaired in a dose-dependent way, and blood levels of IGF-1, estradiol, and testosterone all dropped.3PubMed. Peripubertal Caffeine Exposure Impairs Longitudinal Bone Growth in Immature Male Rats in a Dose- and Time-Dependent Manner That study is often cited as evidence that energy drinks could stunt growth, but rat metabolism handles caffeine differently than human metabolism does, and the doses used in these experiments tend to be high relative to what even a heavy-drinking teenager would consume. The study is hypothesis-generating, not proof.
The Sleep Connection
If there is a plausible route from energy drinks to impaired growth, sleep disruption is probably the strongest candidate. Growth hormone is released in pulses throughout the day, but the largest surge happens during deep sleep, particularly in the first few hours of the night. A comprehensive review of energy drink effects on adolescent hormones found that poor sleep quality suppresses growth hormone secretion during the exact window that matters most for linear growth and puberty-related growth spurts.4Endocrine Abstracts. Hormonal impacts of energy drinks on adolescents: a comprehensive review
Energy drinks are designed to keep you alert. The caffeine content in a single can ranges from about 80 mg on the low end to over 300 mg in some larger or specialty products. For a teenager weighing 50 kg, even a standard 160 mg can delivers roughly 3 mg per kilogram of body weight, a dose that can delay sleep onset and reduce total sleep time. When that drink is consumed in the afternoon or evening, the disruption to deep sleep is more severe. Over weeks and months of regular use, the cumulative lost sleep could meaningfully reduce growth hormone exposure during the years when it matters most.
This pathway is considered the most defensible by researchers who have reviewed the evidence. A 2025 review examining the intersection of energy drinks, milk intake, and bone accrual in young people concluded that the most evidence-backed concern is behavioral: caffeine consumed later in the day reduces sleep quantity or quality, and that sleep disturbance can influence growth, recovery, physical activity, and diet quality.5PubMed Central. Milk Intake, Sun Exposure, and Caffeinated Energy Drink Consumption in Children and Adolescents: Evidence, Uncertainty, and Implications for Peak Bone Mass Accrual In other words, the problem may not be what energy drinks do to your hormones directly, but what they do to your sleep, and then what poor sleep does to everything else.
Bone Health and Calcium
Growing taller means growing longer bones, and bones need calcium. One older but still-cited study gave adolescents caffeine at about 3 mg per kilogram and measured what happened to their calcium levels over three hours. Caffeine increased the amount of calcium lost through urine, and when combined with sugar, the effect was even larger.6Nutrition Research. Acute effects of dietary caffeine and sucrose on urinary mineral excretion of healthy adolescents That combination of caffeine and sugar is, of course, exactly what an energy drink delivers. The worry is that repeatedly flushing extra calcium out of the body during the years of peak bone building could compromise skeletal development.
But the larger-scale evidence has not confirmed this as a real-world problem. A 2023 study using both observational data and a technique called Mendelian randomization, which uses genetic variation to test for cause-and-effect relationships, found no causal link between caffeine intake and bone mineral density in children and adolescents.7PLOS ONE. Association between caffeine consumption and bone mineral density in children and adolescent: Observational and Mendelian randomization study Among those with the highest caffeine intake compared to the lowest, there was no meaningful difference in bone density at the hip, total femur, or spine. The same 2025 review mentioned above concluded bluntly that direct bone evidence is weak, and that researchers should use cautious language like “may,” “plausible,” and “requires prospective confirmation” when linking energy drinks to bone outcomes.5PubMed Central. Milk Intake, Sun Exposure, and Caffeinated Energy Drink Consumption in Children and Adolescents: Evidence, Uncertainty, and Implications for Peak Bone Mass Accrual
One study of young adults in Slovakia did find that those who consumed energy drinks once or twice a week had markers of poorer bone tissue quality compared to non-consumers.8Human Biology and Public Health. Association between frequency of energy drink consumption and bone tissue quality in Slovak young adults But the relationship was not straightforward, and the study itself noted the association was indirect. The pattern across all these studies is the same: there are enough breadcrumbs to keep researchers interested, but not enough evidence to say energy drinks damage bones.
A second behavioral pathway may matter more than any direct chemical one. Teenagers who drink energy drinks tend to drink less milk and fewer fortified beverages, which are the primary dietary sources of calcium and vitamin D during adolescence. The drink that replaces milk may ultimately matter more for bone growth than anything caffeine is doing to calcium metabolism.
How Energy Drinks Differ From Coffee
Parents who drink coffee every morning sometimes wonder why energy drinks get singled out. The caffeine content can be similar, after all. But energy drinks are not just caffeine dissolved in water. They contain high levels of sugar (typically 25 to 60 grams per can), taurine, B vitamins in doses far beyond daily needs, guarana (which adds more caffeine than the label suggests), and various herbal extracts. This cocktail may interact with the body differently than caffeine alone.
A controlled study comparing the cardiovascular effects of energy drinks versus coffee found a meaningful difference in how the heart responded. Energy drink consumption increased a measure of cardiac electrical instability, while coffee consumption at a similar caffeine dose did not change it at all.9PubMed Central. Impact of energy drink versus coffee consumption on periodic repolarization dynamics: an interventional study That suggests something in the energy drink formula beyond caffeine is exerting additional effects on the body. The exact ingredient responsible is not clear, but the finding matters because it means you cannot simply look at coffee research and assume the results apply equally to energy drinks.
Animal research points in a similar direction. Mice given energy drinks chronically for 13 weeks developed signs of metabolic syndrome, including high blood sugar and elevated triglycerides. Strikingly, mice given the sugar-free version of the same energy drink also developed comparable metabolic problems, suggesting the non-sugar ingredients play a role.10PubMed Central. Chronic Intake of Energy Drinks and Their Sugar Free Substitution Similarly Promotes Metabolic Syndrome While this study was not looking at growth specifically, metabolic disruption during development is not good for anything that relies on well-regulated hormone signaling, including growth.
The Health Risks That Are Well Documented
The honest answer to “do energy drinks stunt your growth” is that we don’t have proof they do. But that answer can create a false sense of safety, because the health risks of energy drinks in young people that we do have solid evidence for are serious and well-documented. Growth stunting is the wrong thing to worry about. Heart problems, neurological effects, and emergency room visits are the right things.
A comprehensive review of energy drink case reports identified nine cases of cardiac arrest linked to energy drink consumption, three of which were fatal.11PubMed Central. The Dark Side of Energy Drinks: A Comprehensive Review of Their Impact on the Human Body A review of pediatric emergency data found that energy drink consumption in children and adolescents was correlated with increased emergency department visits and adverse reactions affecting the brain, gut, kidneys, and heart.12Pediatric Emergency Care. Cardiovascular Effects of Energy Drinks in the Pediatric Population
Data from the U.S. National Poison Data System paints a clearer picture of scale. Among energy drink exposures reported, the most common effects were neurological (about 22% of cases), gastrointestinal (17%), and cardiovascular (12%). Fourteen cases were classified as life-threatening, and one adolescent girl died.13Progress in Pediatric Cardiology. Energy drink exposures and trends in children and young adults reported to the National Poison Data System The vulnerability of young people to these effects is partly a matter of body size. Researchers have estimated that a single energy drink could push about 70% of children and 40% of teenagers past the caffeine dose associated with adverse effects when combined with other dietary caffeine sources like soda or chocolate.14PubMed Central. Taurine, Caffeine, and Energy Drinks: Reviewing the Risks to the Adolescent Brain
These are not theoretical risks extrapolated from rat studies. They are things that are happening in emergency rooms right now, and they represent a much more urgent reason to limit energy drink consumption in young people than the unproven possibility of losing a centimeter of height.
Why Some Teenagers React More Than Others
Not every teenager who drinks an energy drink has the same experience. Genetics plays a substantial role in how the body processes caffeine and how sensitive someone is to its effects. Research tracing caffeine consumption patterns from childhood through middle adulthood has found that family environment accounts for most of the variation in caffeine use between ages 9 and 14, but genetic factors gradually take over. By late adolescence and into adulthood, genetics accounts for roughly 30 to 45 percent of the variation in caffeine consumption and response.15PubMed Central. Genetics of caffeine consumption and responses to caffeine
This matters because the teenagers who metabolize caffeine slowly are the same ones who will experience more sleep disruption, longer-lasting cardiovascular effects, and potentially greater hormonal perturbation from the same can of energy drink. The IGF-1 study mentioned earlier found that caffeine’s effect on that growth-related hormone depended on a specific genetic variant of the COMT enzyme, which is involved in breaking down certain neurotransmitters.2PubMed. Effects of Acute Caffeine Intake on Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Responses to Total Sleep Deprivation: Interactions with COMT Polymorphism – A Randomized, Crossover Study People with one version of the gene saw their IGF-1 drop; people with another version did not. You obviously can’t look at a teenager and know which variant they carry, which is part of why blanket caution makes more sense than reassurance when it comes to kids and caffeine.
What Countries Are Doing About It
The lack of proof that energy drinks stunt growth has not stopped governments from acting on the broader health evidence. A scoping review published in 2024 found that 73 countries and territories have implemented some form of policy aimed at reducing energy drink consumption in children, including taxation, age-based sales bans, school bans, mandatory labeling, and marketing restrictions.16PubMed Central. A scoping review of policies related to reducing energy drink consumption in children Most of these countries have relied on fiscal measures like taxing energy drinks at a higher rate, which has been shown to reduce consumption, though enforcement remains a challenge. Some policies have created unintended consequences, including black markets for energy drinks in countries with strict sales bans.
The United Kingdom banned the sale of energy drinks to children under 16 in most major retailers on a voluntary basis starting in 2018, and legislation to make it mandatory has been debated repeatedly. Several countries in the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe have enacted outright bans on sales to minors. In the United States, regulation has been lighter, with most action happening at the school level rather than through federal legislation. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children and adolescents avoid energy drinks entirely, a position that rests not on growth concerns but on cardiovascular and neurological safety data.
The Displacement Problem
One underappreciated consequence of energy drink consumption in adolescents is what those drinks replace in the diet. A teenager who fills up on a 250-calorie energy drink before dinner may eat less of the protein, calcium, zinc, and other nutrients that actively support growth. Over time, this nutritional displacement can matter more than any direct pharmacological effect of caffeine on growth hormones. The 2025 review on bone mass accrual singled out this mechanism as probably the most defensible pathway linking energy drinks to poorer growth outcomes: energy drinks displace milk, fortified beverages, and meals that provide the raw materials bones and muscles need during their most rapid phase of development.5PubMed Central. Milk Intake, Sun Exposure, and Caffeinated Energy Drink Consumption in Children and Adolescents: Evidence, Uncertainty, and Implications for Peak Bone Mass Accrual
This is less dramatic than the idea of caffeine poisoning growth plates, but it may be more consequential in practice. A teenager who drinks two energy drinks a day is not just consuming caffeine; they are consuming up to 120 grams of sugar and up to 500 empty calories that leave less room for nutrient-dense food. Across the three to five years of peak growth velocity during puberty, that kind of chronic nutritional shortfall has a better theoretical and observational basis for affecting final height than anything caffeine does to a hormone level for a few hours after a single dose.
The practical takeaway is less about whether a single energy drink on a Saturday will keep your kid short and more about what regular consumption does to the overall quality of an adolescent diet. Growth is not driven by any one molecule or any one night of sleep. It is the cumulative result of years of adequate nutrition, sufficient sleep, and normal hormonal function. Energy drinks can chip away at all three of those pillars, not through one dramatic mechanism, but through a slow behavioral erosion that is hard to see in the moment and impossible to study in a clean randomized trial.