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Children could be banned from buying tea and coffee to children in Wales as part of a crackdown on caffeinated drinks.
The devolved Labor government's proposal would ban their sale to young people under 16.
It was put out for consultation as part of a wider plan to end the sale of energy drinks to children.
The consultation asks whether the ban “should be extended to take into account other drinks typically high in caffeine, such as tea and coffee”.
The Welsh government wants to ban energy drinks as part of its healthy eating and anti-obesity strategy.
However, she acknowledges that it is difficult to prove links between such products and poor health outcomes.
Children could be banned from buying tea and coffee for children in Wales (archive image)
The British government discussed a ban on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s in England in 2018 and said it would introduce measures the following year, but these have yet to be implemented.
This consultation made it clear that tea and coffee would remain exempt.
The Welsh consultation states that “on average, energy drinks contain similar levels of caffeine to a double espresso”.
According to current regulations, all drinks other than tea and coffee that contain more than 150 mg of caffeine must carry a warning label.
More than one in five UK retailers have imposed voluntary restrictions on energy drinks for under-16s.
Welsh Deputy Minister for Mental Health Lynne Neagle said the consultation sought ideas on how to “support the nation to become healthier”.
Some energy drinks have 21 teaspoons of sugar, as many calories as a Mars bar and the same amount of caffeine as three cups of coffee.
Previous research suggests that children who regularly drink sugary energy drinks are more likely to suffer from headaches and sleep and mood problems.
However, no similar links have been established between coffee or tea consumption among adolescents.
On the contrary, research suggests that coffee – without sugar – actually has a variety of health benefits.
Figures suggest that between 3 and 32 percent of children in the UK consume energy drinks on at least one day a week.
Last year, doctors warned of the dangers of energy drinks in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) after a student who drank too many suffered heart failure.
The 21-year-old university student spent 58 days in hospital after consuming four 500ml energy drinks a day for two years.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit and was so sick that doctors considered whether he needed an organ transplant.