Question

Should there be a minimum age or consumption limit for caffeinated beverages, soda, or caffeine pills? Is it acceptable to give an infant soda or coffee? What about a three-year-old? How would that differ from hot chocolate or a candy bar? In this argument, is there a difference between the types of caffeinated beverages?

200 words

Answer 1

Adolescents ages 12 to 18 should cap daily caffeine intake at 100 mg (the equivalent of about one cup of coffee, one to two cups of tea, or two to three cans of soda). For children under 12, there’s no designated safe threshold.

Roughly 73 percent of kids consume caffeine each day, a 2014 study found.

Kids and adolescents can be more sensitive to caffeine’s undesirable side effects, such as anxiety, diarrhea and dehydration. Even within suggested doses, caffeine use in the afternoon and evening can have negative impacts on sleep quality and quantity.

With high levels of ingestion, notes Miller, “caffeine can lead to dangerous abnormal heart rhythms or lead to neurologic symptoms of hallucinations or seizures.”

-) Believe it or not, toddlers are the latest group of individuals to join in the coffee craze. According to a 2015 study by the Boston Medical Center, 15 percent of toddlers consume about four ounces of coffee every single day. That's half a cup, which is not an insignificant amount for a child of that age and size. The study found that 2.5 percent of one-year-olds were drinking coffee and that number increased by the age of two. But, can toddlers drink coffee?

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