A NEW Scottish campaign is calling for retailers to stop selling energy drinks to under-16s due to concerns that the high-sugar, high-caffeine products are damaging the health and behaviour of schoolchildren.

The Edinburgh-based ­Responsible Retailing of Energy Drinks (RRED), backed by teachers and parents, wants stores to voluntarily stop selling the drinks to children.

Teachers say that it is common to see pupils drinking four cans of the drinks a day. Energy drinks typically contain anything between 80 milligrams of caffeine - the same as a mug of coffee - to as much as 400mg. Brands include Red Bull, Rockstar, Monster and Relentless, as well as supermarket own-brand versions. All brands carry warnings that the drinks are not recommended for children.

The campaign to persuade ­shopkeepers to stop selling to ­under-16s comes amid rising concern over children's consumption of energy drinks. Last week teachers at the annual general meeting of the Educational Institute of Scotland called for a ban on their sale to pupils under the age of 16.

Lithuania is going one step further and will soon become the first country in the EU to ban the sale of highly caffeinated drinks to under-18s, after its parliament voted for the move last month.

The RRED campaign was founded by Norma Austin-Hart, an ­Edinburgh councillor, who says she was alerted to the issue by concerned parents and teachers.

"The teachers were coming in saying it could be very difficult to manage [pupil's] behaviour, which is what you would expect with two or three cans of energy drink inside a relatively small body of a younger teenager," she said.

"These are already banned in schools - so this campaign is aimed at the shops who sell them.

"The problem is the kids are going outside the school grounds at lunchtime, they have got a bit of money and a bit of freedom, so of course they are going to buy them.

"But if it says on the can not recommended for children, I don't think they should sell them to children."

Austin-Hart said she also had concerns the drinks appealed to young people through the way they were marketed and priced.

She welcomed the ban by ­Lithuania but added that she hoped retailers across the UK could be persuaded to sign up to the campaign without the need for legislation.

One of the supporters of the RRED campaign is Pauline Walker, headteacher at Gracemount High School in Edinburgh, who said it was obvious when pupils had consumed energy drinks at lunchtime, despite being banned from bringing them into the school.

One survey last year found one in 20 pupils in the UK had an energy drink for breakfast.

"It is the caffeine and the sugar together which just causes a ­ridiculous change," Walker said. "We certainly know if pupils have been drinking them."

"There is hyperactivity, an inability to concentrate, being argumentative and behavioural difficulties. And some of the young people drink in ridiculous numbers - you are talking three or four cans per day."

Austin-Hart plans to meet with representatives of independent stores this week to urge them to back the campaign. However, so far efforts to persuade major supermarket chains to pledge their support have been largely unsuccessful.

Sainsbury's said energy drinks were not age-restricted ­products and did carry a clear health warning stating they were not recommended for children. A letter sent in response to Austin-Hart's request added it was "up to the Government" to decide whether the sale of these products should be restricted.

A response from Asda claimed restrictions would present ­"operational challenges" due to a variation in the warnings carried on energy drinks and lack of ID for children to prove their age, adding that these uncertainties could lead to a "high risk" of children abusing staff.

A spokeswoman added: "As a responsible retailer, Asda has a continuous review process on all items that have a legal or voluntary age restriction. At present we do not apply a voluntary restriction on the sale of any caffeinated product, including energy drinks.

"We do display a ­warning on our own label Blue Charge drinks saying that the product is not suitable for children, pregnant women and persons sensitive to caffeine."

Last year Morrisons ran a limited trial across the UK at six stores - including Cardonald in Glasgow - that banned the sale of high caffeine energy drinks to under-16s.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, ­Scottish affairs spokesman for the supermarket, said the results were still being considered.

"The move is consistent with the British Soft Drinks ­Association code of practice, and guidance from the Food Standards Agency that children should only consume caffeine in moderation," he said.

"We know that some of our younger customers had difficulty proving they were 16, and we are taking all views into account before we come to a final decision on whether to do this more widely."