New form of addiction: An emerging hazardous addiction problem of milk tea among youths
Our findings highlighted that milk tea consumption might lead to addiction, and it is associated with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Current findings can assist policymakers in developing regulations such as restricting advertising, providing psycho-education, establishing food hygiene standards for such a prosperous youth-dominant consumption industry while protecting their mental health.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032723010820
Yes, you read that correctly, milk tea.
While it doesn't do their digestive systems any good, lactose intolerance being the norm in China, the "addiction" to it cited by the Chinese study is impossible. Perhaps they are "addicted" to it the way coffee hounds are addicted to confections at Starbuck's. It's an affordable luxury.
There was no mention of the Chinese economy with the enormous debt load assumed by many Chinese families as a factor, along with the contraction in the Chinese economy that has made their jobs and futures suddenly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the markets.
(Chinese milk tea is made with strong green or black tea and sweetened condensed milk blended or shaken together, a tea flavored milkshake. Bubble tea adds small tapioca beads. It sounds grisly but it gives a sugar and theophylline boost, I guess, followed by jet propulsion from intestinal gas. They aren't known for having a sweet tooth, it's just not part of the food culture, although that's changing.)
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