{"id":23786,"date":"2025-03-12T00:34:02","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T01:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23786"},"modified":"2025-03-12T02:26:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T02:26:48","slug":"doctors-try-to-stop-under-eights-drinking-slushies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=23786","title":{"rendered":"Doctors try to stop under-eights drinking slushies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-component=\"byline-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<div data-testid=\"byline-new\" class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-0 haItSe\">\n<div class=\"sc-b42e7a8f-1 cjDa-dM\">52 minutes ago<\/p>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!--$!--><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Share\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 oYtVL dRvUPz dXDmtS\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Share<\/span><\/button><button disabled type=\"button\" aria-label=\"Save\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-2 sc-48d6da7e-5 sc-48d6da7e-6 iQJDhl cCYQUA kItbpD\"><span data-testid=\"button-icon-wrapper\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-0 dMpdqo\"><\/span><span data-testid=\"button-text\" aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"sc-48d6da7e-1 eihkAj\">Save<\/span><\/button><!--\/$--><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 ejjhCR\">\n<div data-testid=\"hero-image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/044bbf70-fe95-11ef-b95e-dd2955f18f8f.jpg.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Getty Images A child wearing a blue dress holding a multi-coloured slushy ice drink out in front of them with both hands around it.\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Children should completely avoid &#8220;slushy&#8221; ice drinks containing glycerol, which can make them very ill, until they are at least eight years old, say researchers calling for official public-health advice to change.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The researchers studied the cases of 21 two-to-seven-year-olds in the UK and Ireland who needed emergency treatment soon after drinking a slushy product.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The brightly coloured drinks are designed to appeal to children &#8211; but most contain the naturally occurring sweetener glycerol, instead of sugar, to stop them freezing solid and give the slushy effect.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.food.gov.uk\/safety-hygiene\/food-additives#glycerol\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">Current Food Standards Agency<!-- --><\/a> (FSA) advice says under-fives should avoid the drinks and under-11s should have no more than one.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And if a young child drinks a slushy too quickly, glycerol intoxication could cause shock, hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and loss of consciousness.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\"><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c725pzqzdgno\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">Arla, two,<!-- --><\/a> and <!-- --><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4n65m7lvpgo\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">Albie, four,<!-- --><\/a> both ended up in hospital.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And all of the children in the study, <!-- --><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/adc.bmj.com\/lookup\/doi\/10.1136\/archdischild-2024-328109\" class=\"sc-c9299ecf-0 beIoQm\">published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood<!-- --><\/a>, needed accident-and-emergency (A&amp;E) treatment, after becoming acutely ill, soon after having the drinks, mostly between 2018 and 2024, with &#8220;glycerol intoxication syndrome&#8221;:<!-- --><\/p>\n<ul class=\"sc-5c9c90b0-0 ggNdZQ\">\n<li class=\"sc-8d73edac-0 ezcCTE\">most lost consciousness and showed signs of low sugar and high acidity in the blood. <!-- --><\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-8d73edac-0 ezcCTE\">four needed brain scans<!-- --><\/li>\n<li class=\"sc-8d73edac-0 ezcCTE\">one had a seizure <!-- --><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The children all recovered and were discharged from hospital, with advice to avoid slushies. <!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 dlWCEZ\">\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">The study authors, paediatricians working in the UK and Ireland, say: &#8220;There is poor transparency around slush-ice-drink glycerol concentration.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">&#8220;Estimating a safe dose is therefore not easy.&#8221; <!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">Recommendations based on a child&#8217;s weight would be hard for parents to interpret.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">And how quickly a slushy is drunk and whether with a meal or after exercise can also be factors.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">One reason for the recent rise in children becoming ill may be the lower sugar content of the slushies, which is attractive to parents.<!-- --><\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-eb7bd5f6-0 fezwLZ\">In countries with no sugar tax, they contain much more glucose and often no glycerol at all, the authors say.<!-- --><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure>\n<div data-component=\"image-block\" class=\"sc-18fde0d6-0 gfTVSf\">\n<div data-testid=\"image\" class=\"sc-a34861b-1 jxzoZC\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 cOpVbP hide-when-no-script\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/medexperts.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/4ac4fa20-fe95-11ef-b95e-dd2955f18f8f.jpg.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Getty Images Slushy ice drinks coloured blue, green and red all lined up\" class=\"sc-a34861b-0 efFcac\" \/><span class=\"sc-a34861b-2 hesJxn\">Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>52 minutes ago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23786"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23791,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23786\/revisions\/23791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}