Two academics from The University of Notre Dame Australia’s School of Law, Fremantle, are part of a team that secured a Telethon – Perth Children’s Hospital Research Fund grant for approximately $250,000 to study the health impacts of energy drinks on adolescents.
Dr Marilyn Bromberg and Justine Howard join a team that will conduct Australia-first research on the impact of energy drinks on children and adolescents. It will also be the first research project internationally to create policy guidelines that attempt to reduce the amount of energy drinks that young people consume and the harm they may suffer from consuming them.
Reflecting the research topic, ‘Energy drinks: an emerging health risk for children and adolescents’, the aim of the study will be to investigate how many energy drinks people aged 12-17 consume and the health effects that they experience as a result. Dr Gina Trapp at the Telethon Kids Institute will lead the project.
“The research involves learning what young people think about energy drinks. We also hope to draft policy and practice guidelines regarding energy drinks for people under 18,” Dr Bromberg said.
“This is a very important, multidisciplinary research project in which researchers from both medicine and law are collaborating. Some of the research methods that the project will use comprise interviewing young people and collecting information from them at school, in addition to other research methods.”
Both Dr Bromberg and Ms Howard have previously published research on this topic, calling for the Australian government to regulate the selling of energy drinks to people over the age of 18. They also believe stringent advertising measures are needed to curb the overconsumption of these products.
“School-aged children have easy access to energy drinks. They are also cost-effective which makes these beverages a more attractive option in their eyes compared to water or other healthier refreshments,” Ms Howard said.
Professor Doug Hodgson says both Dr Bromberg and Ms Howard are research active academics who are committed to researching new and interesting areas of law that are important to the legal community and the world at large.
“In this case, the findings will be particularly important to children and adolescents, which makes their research even more critical. I look forward to seeing the impact of Ms Howard and Dr Bromberg’s research,” Professor Hodgson said.
To enquire further about courses in the School of Law, Fremantle, please contact the Prospective Students Office, Fremantle, on 08 9433 0533 or email future@nd.edu.au.