Copyright walesonline
A boy whose family were so worried about his addiction to energy drinks that they took him to the doctors has said he's now finally "weaning himself off" the sugary highs with the help of mental health support. Roman Freeman, now 15, was just 12 when his parents took him to his GP over the addiction and he's still receiving support from the children's charity Barnardo's. Roman, from Ely in Cardiff , told WalesOnline his family first noticed differences in his behaviour such as his crippling addiction to energy drinks three years ago. He said his addiction was so bad he felt it had left him "stuck". He said he and his family are "certain" he has autism, but a lack of a diagnosis has posed really difficult challenges. Never miss a Cardiff story by signing up to our daily newsletter here "When I was 12 it was hard for me because I was addicted to energy drinks," he said. "I’m still working through it, I only have one a month now, weaning myself off. "I started going to Barnardo's because it was a way for me to get out of the house and keep me busy. Keeping myself busy and distracted keeps me from doing things I don’t want to. "It’s the highlight of my week. Barnardo's have helped me socialise and make me more of a people person. It has also helped me read people’s mannerisms." It comes after a study by Opinion Matters found 46% of young people in Wales are struggling with their mental health with one in four reporting they are not feeling positive about their future. Since the data was published Barnardo's have teamed up with Co-op to help young people struggling with their mental health by providing support across their centres in Cardiff, Swansea , and Rhyl. The charity said support was tailored to the needs of the youths in each area after discussing with the children of the community. For Roman the Ely branch's weekly cooking classes on a Tuesday have been essential to helping him with his addiction and other challenges. Roman takes part in the sessions each week as well as around 40 other youths in the community. Alongside the cooking and nutrition classes, they are also able to take home surplus food donated by Co-op stores and other supermarkets in Cardiff. He said: "It’s really useful for my family. I like how it brings people together. Cooking is really good for mental health because you feel proud of what you’ve made. There’s nothing else like this around here." The charity said after talking to young people in Cardiff they found a major worry among them was food provision and, according to the charity, they are not alone. Young people in Wales reported greater than average difficulty in accessing or affording food, with one in four saying they had struggled to access or pay for food in the last six months, against a UK-wide average of one in five. As well as having concerns regarding food, 28% of young people in Wales said they do not feel positive about their future. Roman said he has also experienced this himself after struggling with his grades in school . He said: “I didn't used to feel positive about my future because I don’t have very good grades, so I didn’t think I’d get a good job. "But since coming here I’ve started thinking I could be a youth worker when I’m older. I’ve already started volunteering. So yeah – this place makes me feel positive about my future." Saeed, who advises Co-op and Barnardo’s on youth perspectives in Wales, said: "When we started talking to young people in Ely, worries about having enough food to eat came up straight away. "They didn’t know how to make healthy food, because unhealthy food is usually cheaper and easier to get. That’s why we set up Tasty Tuesdays, so there would be a place that people could go for free and know that they’ll get something to eat."
