Regulate the way energy drink companies market and sell highly caffeinated beverages to minors.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents.” Yet, due to a lack of regulation, energy drink companies have copied Big Tobacco’s blueprint of marketing to minors. A 2013 Yale study reports energy drink ads often appear on platforms that target youth. In 2010, children saw more TV ads for 5-Hour Energy than for any drink but Capri Sun. In 2011, 35% of 8th graders reported consuming an energy drink in the previous year, while the number of energy drink-related ER visits by 12-to-17-year-olds increased. Some of these children—including a 14-year-old girl named Anais Fournier—died from caffeine poisoning. Mr. President, for our children’s sake, please take action.