Teens and twenty somethings are in danger of getting hooked on unhealthy energy drinks.

Recent research has found that thirty-one percent of teenagers in the United States drink energy drinks, from three million kids just three years ago to over seven and a half million today.

Over five hundred new energy drinks have been launched world wide in the last twelve months.

Many claim to help weight loss, increase endurance and stamina and provide legal highs.

The $3.4 billion a year industry is reported to have grown by eighty percent last year aided the Internet.

Fan mail for brands appear on their own MySpace pages and are reviewed by bloggers.

The hype carries over into the streets. All this activity adds to the many brands own advertising and marketing efforts that are likely to result in yet another bumper year coming up.

The problem, say nutritionists, is that these drinks contain large amounts of sugar and caffeine that can hook kids.

It is hard to know how much caffeine is in the drinks as they comes from many sources and some contain Vitamin B that, if taken in excess, can cause unpleasant side effects.

More cause for concern is that some kids are drinking several cans one after the other without a pause expecting to get a high.

The result is that too much caffeine can cause sickness and many poison-centers have had reports of illness as a result.

With brands targeting the teens and twenties and a market that is far from saturated, the problem of these energy drinks is going to get steadily worse.