KidsPost News: 12-Year-Old Studies Sports Drink
Brendan O'Neil studied whether athletes performed better after drinking Monster.
(From Christina O'neil)
TOOLBOX
   Resize
|
12-Year-Old Scientist Tests Sports Drinks
-- Energy drinks don't improve exercise performance more than regular soda, according to a study published in a medical magazine and presented Monday at a national meeting of emergency room doctors in Boston. The author of the study is 12.
Brendan D. O'Neil, a seventh-grader from Michigan, is the son of an emergency room doctor. He loves sports and wondered if the energy drink Monster, which contains caffeine, makes an athlete perform better. For a school science project he decided to find out. His father did "the parts a child doesn't really know how to do, like taking the blood pressure," Brendan said.
Study participants did sit-ups and push-ups after drinking Monster and again after drinking Sprite. "I was surprised because the energy drinks didn't improve your muscle strength, and that's what I thought they would improve," Brendan said. Energy drinks did, however, create slightly quicker reactions when playing video games.
