Middlebury College Of Vermont Bans Energy Drinks Because They Lead To Risky Sexual Activity?

JBried8 years ago

Middlebury College of Vermont has announced that it will no longer be selling energy drinks on campus due to the college council’s belief that they promote bad academic habits and possibly “high-risk sexual activity.” The health concerns regarding energy drinks are nothing new: A study done by the Mayo Clinic in 2015 showed that even just one energy drink can put a healthy adult at risk for heart damage, because of the increase in blood pressure and stress hormones it causes. But risky sexual activity? That has nothing to do with anything sold in a college café.

Middlebury’s concerns came from multiple studies on the links between the two, such as the one done by the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo in Canada. The study surveyed high school students on their alcohol and drug use, depression, and sensation seeking. Maybe this is where Middlebury got a little confused.

From Reuteurs Health:

Energy drink consumption was more common among kids who reported sensation-seeking and had high depression scores along with those that used cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol, the researchers found.

It’s interesting how if you actually read the results, no where in there does it say energy drinks cause these things. However, some students of Middlebury are on board with this new change.

From Middlebury Campus:

“I learned in my psychology class that energy drinks are linked to high risk sex and drug use,” Jenna McNicholas ’19 said. Meg Knox ’19 agreed.”

Clearly Middlebury should turn their eyes to improving their psychology department next. Although energy drinks have proved to be directly linked to causing physical problems after consumption, there’s no direct link between drinking an energy drink and seeking out risky sexual behavior. That just comes with being a college kid, sorry. Correlation is not causation.

[via Reuteurs Health, Middlebury Campus]