Early one Thursday night, a man consumed an energy drink, an energy shot, and a diet pill. He did this on an empty stomach, so the fact that he stayed awake the entire night and did not fall asleep until 7 a.m. the next morning may not surprise you.

Until you discover the man's weight, his profession, and what he did for a good part of the night.Terrence Cody weighs 349 pounds, plays nose tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, and banged heads, bodies, and god knows what else against the offensive linemen of the Cleveland Browns for four quarters of football.The fact that Cody wanted to sleep after the game but was too "jacked up" to do so for more than seven hours was shared in Matt Gagne's October 8, 2012 Sports Illustrated article, "Too Much of a Good Thing," and illuminates the powers and pitfalls of caffeine.For the combination Cody consumed contained about 370 milligrams of caffeine, which interestingly enough falls just inside the "safe" limit based on body weight according to Health Canada not for adults but for children. Health Canada is cited because the U.S. National Institute of Health only says this about caffeine: that 200 to 300 milligrams per day is a "moderate amount for most people" and to "watch how much caffeine a child gets" since "a hyperactive child may need to avoid it," a claim that at least one published study disputes.Referencing a magazine article that's more than two years old makes sense since a significant trend began about that time. U.S. energy drink sales increased by 30 percent in 2011, 21 percent in 2012, and still managed a 7 percent increase in 2013, a year when sales of the two most popular sodas, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, virtually flat lined.Now think about what age groups are probably most responsible for the energy drink sales boom: young adults, teens and preteens. And then consider the typical body weights of the last two groups.Put the two together and you have the perfect prescription for producing overly caffeinated kids.This apparent problem in the U.S. has been chronicled by research done at the Denmark Technical University by the National Food Institute. Their research uncovered that when children aged 10 to 14 consume energy drinks, 20 percent of the time they surpass the recommended maximum daily intake of caffeine for the day with that single drink alone.And because of that, on days Danish 10-to-14-year-olds consume an energy drink, half of them surpass the recommended daily intake when other sources of caffeine, like sodas and chocolates are added.It's safe to say that the numbers for 10 to 14 year olds in the U.S. would at least equal and probably exceed the Danish statistics.But you probably care more about a son or daughter than Danish statistics, so think of it this way. If your 10-to-14-year-old child ever drinks the typical energy drink, he or she is probably getting more caffeine that day than the health officials in Canada or Denmark recommend.That's because, according to these experts, a child should not be drinking a full 16-ounce can of Monster (generally regarded as the teen and pre-teen favorite) unless he or she weighs about 150 pounds provided all other caffeine sources are avoided for the remainder of the day.A 16-ounce can of Monster, by the way, also contains 54 grams of sugar, yet excessive sugar consumption is only one way that energy drink can lead to teen obesity. The other is by reducing the teen's sleep time.In research that appeared in the Journal of Pediatrics last year, 20 percent of 16-year-old subjects reported getting less than six hours of sleep per night, which led to a 20 percent increase in being obese by age 21 when compared to other 16-year-olds getting at least eight hours of sleep per night. Caffeine, especially consumed at night and in energy drinks that almost always contain other stimulants, certainly compromises sleep.In fact, many teens specifically drink a can of Monster or two or three to be able to play video games late into the night.While the extra gaming time probably leads to higher scores, the higher likelihood of obesity also increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.For more on how the primary ingredient in energy drinks, caffeine, can affect the sleep of adults, read next week's column.