DETROIT — More than 40 percent of reports about energy drinks to U.S. poison control centers involved children younger than 6, with some suffering serious cardiac and neurological symptoms, according to research presented Nov. 17 by the American Heart Association.

This disproportionate representation of children is concerning given the number of reports of serious cardiac and neurological symptoms, said Steven Lipshultz, M.D., the study’s senior author and professor and chair of pediatrics at Wayne State University and pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.

The study also shows the effects of energy drinks in the reported cases included abnormal heart rhythms and seizures. Researchers are calling for better labeling of energy drinks’ high caffeine content and subsequent health consequences.