Coffee drinks can have both beneficial and detrimental effects on the body. The degree of benefit or harm received is largely determined by the age of the person drinking coffee. That is why many doctors set a “bar” indicating at what age children can drink coffee.
There are several recommendations to minimize the side effects of drinking caffeinated drinks in children and adolescents aged 7-14 years. They relate to the frequency of use, as well as cooking recipes.
Can children drink coffee?
There is a widespread theory that coffee drinks have a negative impact on children's health. Interestingly, this opinion is not shared in some states.
Studies conducted by Brazilian scientists found that experimental participants who drank a coffee mix with milk daily had lower levels of depression. This figure is half that of children who drink black coffee or refuse the drink.
According to research, it has become known that 75% of people 5-14 years old drink coffee drinks daily.
Australian parents regularly give their children invigorating coffee cocktails. At the same time, babies grow and develop fully. Such data were obtained by comparing their health and psycho-emotional state with their peers who never drank coffee.
In America, many schools officially allow the sale of lattes in the cafeteria. In addition, American schoolchildren consume large amounts of caffeine along with chocolate and soda.
In Scandinavia, most children try coffee cocktails for the first time before the age of 7, and when they become teenagers, they begin to drink it regularly. Despite this fact, people living in Scandinavian countries are considered to be among the healthiest and most psychologically resilient in the world.
With milk
If your baby shows an active interest in coffee, it is recommended to offer him a cocktail diluted by half with milk. This can be explained by the fact that the milk component reduces the strength of the drink, which is why the gastric mucosa will suffer less from the irritant. The same applies to the psycho-emotional system: when drinking a less strong liquid, the child’s condition will be more stable.
Before giving such a milkshake, you need to make sure that you are not allergic to protein.
If your baby feels unwell after drinking coffee, he should be shown to a specialist.
What is included in coffee: components and calorie content of the drink
Coffee is a popular drink made from ground coffee beans. It contains many elements including caffeine and antioxidants.
Caffeine is the main component of coffee, which has an analeptic effect, stimulates the vasomotor and respiratory centers of the medulla oblongata, as well as a psychostimulating effect. Thanks to the latter, after drinking a cup of coffee, drowsiness, lethargy disappears and vigor appears. However, everything is individual, and in some cases this effect is not observed.
Is caffeine safe for humans and how much can you consume per day without harming your health? The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) answers this question in its Scientific Opinion on the Safety of Caffeine [Verified Source], where it concludes that caffeine consumption of up to 400 mg per day is quite safe.
Antioxidants are substances that neutralize various negative chain reactions in the body that are triggered by free radicals. They slow down the aging process of cells and reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
In addition, a 250 ml cup of black coffee contains the following beneficial substances [Verified source]:
- vitamin B2 (riboflavin);
- vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid);
- vitamin B1 (thiamine);
- vitamin B3 (niacin);
- potassium;
- magnesium;
- manganese;
- phosphorus;
- folic acid.
As for the caloric content of coffee, a standard serving of coffee without any impurities contains about 2 calories [Verified source]. If you add sugar, milk, cream or syrup to it, the drink will become more nutritious.
After analyzing the composition of coffee, let's move on to debunking myths about the popular drink.
At what age can you drink coffee?
Most Russian pediatricians do not advise preschoolers and schoolchildren under 12-14 years of age to drink coffee drinks. If parents really want to please their child with new taste sensations, giving a coffee cocktail is allowed at 10-12 years of age. At the same time, the volume of the drink should not be too large: you should not offer your baby more than 1 cup per day. If a younger child is interested in coffee, he can be given a cocktail of the main ingredient and a similar volume of milk.
At what age can you regularly give your child coffee with milk? The cocktail, half diluted with the milk component, can be offered to children from 10 years of age. It is optimal if you add a spoonful of granulated sugar to this drink.
The effects of coffee on a child's body
Coffee beans contain many chemical compounds that affect the body in different ways:
- caffeine;
- amino acids;
- organic acids;
- tannins;
- fat;
- sucrose (a dangerous component for an unformed organism).
In adulthood, the body easily copes with harmful components, and children's immunity is not fully developed, so a coffee drink can cause an acute reaction in the body.
The benefits of coffee, subject to the permissible daily intake:
- increased excitability of the central nervous system;
- improved emotional state;
- disappearance of drowsy and lethargic state;
- increased concentration;
- improved production of digestive juice;
- activation of metabolic processes.
But, along with the positive aspects, we should not forget about the dangers of coffee, the drink leads to:
- sudden changes in mood;
- moodiness;
- stubbornness;
- instability of emotional state;
- deterioration of mental abilities.
When answering the question, at what age can you drink coffee in childhood, it should be noted that it affects sleep and has a bad effect on hormonal levels. For this reason, a teenager should not drink a lot of this drink.
Caffeine activates the production of adrenaline, which intensifies metabolic processes and enhances the synthesis of the hormone dopamine, which shapes mood. Changes in the balance of hormones threaten pathologies in the formation of the hormone system and can cause endocrine problems, so children should not drink coffee.
Often teenage girls drink coffee to lose weight, not realizing the harm they are doing to themselves. As calcium is washed out of the body, the appearance deteriorates: caries develops on the teeth, nails become brittle.
Digestive system
Under the influence of caffeine, the production of gastric juice increases, food is digested faster, and children who drink coffee begin to feel hungry. To satisfy this feeling, the child has to eat candy, buns, cookies and other high-calorie foods that are not beneficial. If there is no physical activity for several hours after this, then excess weight appears, and over time, obesity.
It is bad to allow children to drink coffee on an empty stomach. Acids interact with gastric juice, which burns the gastric mucosa and develops gastritis. Tannins, which give the drink a bitter taste, provoke constipation and gastrointestinal diseases.
The cardiovascular system
Coffee should not be given to young children because it causes the heart muscle to contract faster. If a child has weak blood vessels, then drinking the drink leads to increased heartbeat and active blood circulation, and increased blood pressure. The result is dizziness, vomiting, and possible stroke.
Vitamin leaching
When consuming caffeine, the urge to empty the bladder becomes more frequent, the load on the kidneys increases, and beneficial substances are washed out of the body. First, potassium and calcium are washed away, the first is necessary for the proper functioning of the heart, the second - for the development of bone tissue. If there is a calcium deficiency, the bones become brittle, and fractures often occur with little stress.
Quantity
According to doctors, babies can drink weak coffee, but with some reservations:
- For the first time, children should be offered a coffee drink from 1 mug over a period of 30 days. Gradually the volume can be increased to 1 weekly serving.
- If a 7-year-old child wants to drink a coffee shake, he should dilute the strong liquid with the same amount of milk. At this age, you should not consume more than 1 serving per month.
- At the age of 10 years, a coffee mix mixed with a milk component can be drunk three or four times a month.
- Teenagers 12-14 years old are allowed to drink the cocktail twice a week. But such a drink should not contain large doses of caffeine.
It is necessary to completely abandon the aromatic mix if the baby is diagnosed with pathologies of the liver, cardiovascular system, kidneys, if he suffers from tuberculosis, insomnia, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure, or blurred vision.
Also, due to the active diuretic effect, such cocktails should not be drunk if you have enuresis.
addictive
Don’t understand at what age can a child drink coffee? Then keep in mind that this drink is addictive even in adults. Children are even more susceptible to similar effects. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to this.
In principle, addiction is not the worst thing. Typically, coffee addiction causes a need to increase the caffeine dose. This can lead to dilemmas with the heart or brain. Of course, the impact on these two areas only increases over time. It turns out that such a drink is generally prohibited for very young children. It is not enough that the addiction will be strong and rapid, but also the effect will be destructive. Sometimes even very harsh. But this is not a reason to completely deny children the opportunity to drink this tasty drink - at a certain point the ban can be lifted. The main thing is to take into account certain features and take care of the health of your kids. The healthier a person is, the less likely there is to be a negative impact.
Some people are starting to think about the age at which children can drink coffee (at what age will it cause the least harm)? The answer is closer to high school. After all, it is during this period that the child needs strength and energy. But it is still unacceptable to abuse it.
There are ancestors who, from the age of 6-7 years, allow their children to get involved in coffee. This is not a completely correct decision. If you listen to the doctors' presentations, you can see that schoolchildren should not be given a lot of coffee. Especially if the baby has problems with blood pressure (in the modern world, even younger schoolchildren experience similar problems) or with the heart.
If your child needs a boost of energy, normalize his daily routine. As practice shows, children whose parents do not look after them begin to consume this drink uncontrollably. But in the future this may not have the best effect on your health.
Contraindications
Age restrictions are based on the established harm of coffee for children. The main negative feature of this drink is that it greatly excites the child’s nervous system. Because of this, aggressiveness and irritability increase. If you constantly drink coffee drinks, the child’s body begins to suffer from sleep disorders, and heart pathologies may appear.
Also, caffeine cocktails contribute to the removal of calcium from the body, which is why vitamin and mineral complexes begin to be absorbed worse, the skeletal system weakens, intracranial and blood pressure increases, and memory deteriorates.
The drink can also cause addiction. The fact is that it activates the brain lobes responsible for receiving pleasure. Constant consumption of cocktails helps to obtain positive emotions and a surge of strength. This effect on the body makes you want to drink another portion of the invigorating drink.
Myth No. 1 Coffee and cancer: is it true that coffee causes cancer?
For more than 25 years, the World Health Organization (WHO) believed that this drink stimulates the formation of tumors in the bladder. Coffee was called a carcinogen (cancer-causing factor) and its consumption was considered unsafe for health.
However, in 2021, the WHO, in the course of recent studies, revised its attitude towards coffee and recognized that it does not provoke [Verified source] not only breast cancer, but also other types of cancer. The most interesting thing is that the World Health Organization even declared the drink’s ability to prevent liver cancer.
Scientists from the University of Southampton (Verified source) under the leadership of Julie Parkes also came to the conclusion that coffee is beneficial for the liver. Following their study, they stated that the drink could prevent cirrhosis of the liver , a pathology during which normal cells are replaced by scar tissue, leading to impaired functioning of the organ.
This beneficial effect of coffee on the liver, according to scientists, is due to the presence of chlorogenic acid and cafestol in the drink, which prevent changes in liver cells.
Following all of the above, coffee is not capable of causing cancer, but frequent consumption of hot drinks (temperatures above 65 degrees), on the contrary, can provoke cancer. Thus, the International Agency for Research on Cancer [Official source] under the WHO has recognized the consumption of hot coffee and tea as dangerous.
Christopher Wilde, director of this organization, emphasized that it is the temperature of drinks above 65 degrees that can become a probable cause of esophageal cancer. And even if you often eat hot soup, drink hot compote or any other liquid product with a temperature of more than 65 degrees , this may be unsafe for health.
Thus, we can say with confidence that coffee is not a carcinogen, but if you often drink it too hot, there is a risk of esophageal cancer.
Consequences
If coffee is given to children regularly, they may suffer from side effects. Among them are:
- increased breathing;
- the appearance of headaches;
- the appearance of vomiting;
- increase in limb tremor;
- increase in body temperature;
- pressure surges.
The body’s side response may be different for each person, so treating children with such a drink should be done under personal supervision.
What's the best way to make coffee for kids?
Coffee for children should be prepared only from natural beans. Their soluble analogue is not suitable for these purposes. The natural product should be light or medium roasted. Also, babies are not advised to drink decaffeinated coffee, as it has a negative effect on cardiac activity and the condition of blood vessels due to the presence of a large number of carcinogens.
Green coffee should not be offered to young children and adolescents, as it is a semi-finished product that reduces appetite. Such drinks can provoke the active development of an allergic reaction.
The effects of coffee on a child's body
Coffee contains several hundred chemical compounds, and each of them has its own effect on the human body. But nature has endowed adults with a mechanism to neutralize the harmful effects of the drink. The child’s body is growing and developing, so the reaction to any substance is more acute.
Coffee contains:
- caffeine (about one and a half times more in Robusta than in Arabica);
- tannins (tannins);
- organic acids: chlorogenic, tartaric, malic, citric, caffeic, oxalic;
- fats;
- amino acids;
- sucrose.
Of the following substances, caffeine has the strongest effect on the child’s body:
- stimulates the nervous system;
- eliminates lethargy, drowsiness;
- promotes concentration, improves mental activity;
- improves mood;
- accelerates metabolism, stimulates the production of gastric juice;
- has a diuretic effect.
At first glance, there is nothing in the above list of caffeine properties that could seriously harm a child. However, for all these benefits, the child’s body pays an exorbitant price.
Excitation of the nervous system also does not go unnoticed: in many children it is already unstable. Because of caffeine, children become capricious, stubborn, and experience sudden mood swings: from laughter they easily turn to tears and vice versa. If a child drinks coffee too often, he becomes emotionally unstable and his behavior worsens.
The effect of coffee on hormonal levels is especially detrimental. The mood after drinking the drink increases due to the fact that caffeine promotes the production of adrenaline, which increases metabolism, and dopamine, the “happiness hormone.” A sharp surge in hormonal levels in children and adolescents during puberty is very dangerous. It can cause disruptions in the formation of the hormonal system.
Getting used to caffeine
Caffeine has narcotic properties, and children get used to it faster than adults. A child who is often given coffee begins to perceive it as a source of pleasant sensations. But over time they become dull as a habit develops. As a result, the teenager seeks stronger substances that cause a state of euphoria: nicotine, alcohol, and sometimes hard drugs.
Coffee and the digestive system
Caffeine stimulates the production of gastric juice, which speeds up the digestion of food, and the child feels hungry faster. To curb their appetite, children usually eat a bun or a chocolate bar, that is, foods with “empty” calories, with little or no vitamins and other nutrients.
It’s good if after this the student goes to physical education class, where he spends extra calories. But if after a snack a child has to sit in class for several lessons, then the likelihood of excess weight increases, which in adulthood threatens obesity.
Coffee and the cardiovascular system
Coffee speeds up the contraction of the heart muscle. In children with weak blood vessels, an accelerated heartbeat, increased blood circulation and increased blood pressure can cause dizziness, vomiting, and in severe cases, a stroke.
Vitamin leaching
Caffeine is a diuretic. Frequent urination puts a strain on the kidneys, and beneficial substances are washed out of the body, primarily potassium and calcium. Potassium is necessary for the heart, calcium is involved in the formation of bone tissue. With a lack of calcium, bones become brittle and break due to the slightest blow or fall.
