What’s the Straight Dope medically on kids & caffeine? Is there any short-term or long-term harm from kids, adolescents, and/or teenagers drinking, say, two cups a day?
I drank soda like it was going out of style since elementary school, but MammaHomie wouldn’t let me go anywhere near coffee (inconsistent, I know). I never had any problems (that I’m aware of).
You’re going to find evidence and stories from people on all sides of the issue.
I think the key thing to remember is that a 50-lb kid is going to need just 1/3 the amount of caffeine as a 150-lb adult for the same effect. Two cans of caffeinated soda (40 mg of caffeine, give or take) is like an adult drinking six. I know kids who go through four cans of Coke in a day. At my weight, I’d have to drink sixteen cans for the same effect; there’s just no way I can call that safe or reasonable.
If you compare that to a cup of coffee (100 mg) or tea (60 mg), you can see that a ban on coffee for young kids makes sense. (Those are average numbers, of course; you can affect the caffeine content through roasting and brewing methods).
Research on caffeine (wish I had a cite) suggests that you get the best performance/attentiveness increase relative to negative side effects at just 10-20 mg for an adult, which (at the high end) is half a can of soda or a fifth of a cup of coffee. I haven’t seen any good research that backs up claims that caffeine stunts growth or otherwise permanently harms kids.
So, the conclusion I draw is that I should use my own experience with caffeine and apply it to the kids. If two cups of coffee makes me jittery, then half a cup is too much for them. If one can of soda gives me a nice pick-me up, a quarter of a can might be good for them.
But kids who subsist on Diet Coke? Give me a break! Even I would have attention deficit, sleep disorders and behavior problems on that much caffeine.
I find it funny that parents who balk at giving their kids coffee don’t think twice about giving them soda.
My kids are almost 17 and 19 and they’ve been drinking coffee and tea since they were about 13-14. We restrict their soda, and I had to get on my son for buying those energy drinks…he was guzzling three a day, but he’s stopped now.