Two Christian Democratic politicians, Lőrinc Nacsa and István Hollik, submitted a bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday proposing to ban the sale of energy drinks to those under 18 years of age. The two politicians mentioned the idea of a ban previously, in October last year.

‘We will protect our children!’, Lőrinc Nacsa stated in a post on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening. Justifying the significance of the bill, they stated that the consumption of energy drinks among young people in Hungary has reached alarming levels. According to a survey, 78 per cent of them consume energy drinks, and

one in five children aged 10⁠–⁠14 regularly consumes energy drinks for breakfast.

In recent months, the politicans have consulted with many experts and doctors who have confirmed that this poses a serious health risk–they added.

Therefore, together with István Hollik, they submitted a bill to the National Assembly which would prohibit the sale of energy drinks to those under 18 in the future. Preserving the health of Hungarian youth is our common concern–emphasized Nacsa in the post, therefore he urged his fellow representatives to support the proposal, regardless of party affiliation.

The bill published on the parliamentary website states that it would prohibit selling or serving energy drinks to individuals under 18 years of age. According to the amendment, the same sanctions would apply to those violating the rules on the sale of energy drinks as those for the sale of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, or sexual products. The general justification of the bill states that the proportion of energy drink consumers among those under 18 is constantly increasing.

Since 1 November 2011, the National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy has received nearly five hundred reports of illnesses and unpleasant symptoms related to the consumption of energy drinks. 26 per cent of the reported events affected girls, and 74 percent affected boys, with 74 per cent of the cases involving individuals under 18 years of age, most of whom were between 15 and 16 years old. The quantity of energy drinks consumed per person ranged from 1 decilitre to 2.5 litres, and energy drinks were consumed with alcohol in 22 per cent of cases. As for the locations of energy drink consumption in the reported cases, 40 per cent were at home, 23 per cent were at school, and only 8 per cent were at entertainment venues.

The severity of the problem is indicated by the fact that in the majority of cases–70 per cent of them–there was indeed a need for the healthcare system to be utilized. The justification also includes the unanimous opinion of experts from the Hungarian Society of Cardiology and the National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy that excessive energy drink consumption poses significant health risks for young people.

Representatives of the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology state that an increasing number of their patients require hospitalization due to overdose, which is why

they would like to achieve a Europe-wide ban on the sale of energy drinks to minors,

as stated in the justification of the bill.

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