Caffeine and Active Kids

With the rise of the designer energy drink, it’s hard to distinguish what’s good and what’s bad. Remember, back in the day (like 5 years ago) when energy drinks were easy to spot. The simple advice was, “Kids should not be drinking Monsters or Rockstars”, and for the most part, everyone listened, and I didn’t see a lot of teens reaching for those. There are new kids on the caffeine block, so here’s another reminder of why caffeine and active kids don’t mix.

Caffeine and Active Kids

Caffeine is a stimulant and as such, comes helpful and harmful side effects of consuming it. In adults, caffeine has been studied extensively as an ergogenic aid for those engaged in endurance and strength activities. The same has not been studied in children, for obvious reasons.

If you’ve ever made your coffee a little too strong, or accidentally drank one too many cups, then you already know some of the side effects of caffeine. The same goes for kids, but because of body size, their threshold is lower.

Side Effects

• Headaches
• Fast heart rate (racing)
• High blood pressure
• Anxiety
• Tremors
• Poor sleep
• Depression
• Death

This list of side effects, especially death, is not meant to scare, but to be aware that it’s on the list, because it’s happened.

How Much Caffeine is Too Much?

There is no safe level of caffeine consumption for kids 12 and under. For kids over 13, the recommendation is to limit caffeine to no more than 100mg per day. Here’s what that looks like

Caffeine Concerns About Growth

You may have heard that caffeine stunts the growth of children. There is no definitive evidence that caffeine alone can cause children not to reach their full height potential. Here is what the research says:

Caffeine has the potential to disrupt sleep patterns. Growth occurs during sleep and consistent disruptions in sleep have the potential to disrupt growth.

Other Health Concerns

Calcium Concerns

While not specifically tied to caffeine, if adolescents are choosing caffeinated beverages over milk, they may not consume enough calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D – which are essential for bone growth.

Also not specific to caffeine, but more to caffeinated beverages, coffee and tea, which contain compounds called tannins. These can bind to calcium and have negative effects on bone mineralization, increasing the long-term risk of osteoporosis. So, this means that if parents are not providing a source of calcium at a different time as an adolescent is consuming coffee or tea, they may not be absorbing as much calcium as they could.

Added Sugar Concerns

It’s no surprise that there is a bit of an obesity epidemic among our youth in the United States, fueled by added sugar and energy drinks. The added sugar concern is not specifically tied to caffeine either, but the big sources of caffeine in an adolescent’s diet comes from soft drinks, energy drinks, and coffeehouse drinks — all loaded with added sugar, sometimes more than they should have in an entire day.

Bottom Line on Caffeine and Active Kids

There are real concerns about kids consuming too much caffeine. There are deadly levels of caffeine intake that affect heart rhythms and it’s impossible to know what that level is for each person. Adults are advised not to consume over 400mg of caffeine, as side effects can be seen with amounts higher than this.

Children are not simply small adults. Everything is still growing and developing and caffeine has the potential to disrupt and provide side effects at much lower levels than in adults. Advise your active kids to not consume any caffeine if they are 12 and under. For the older kids, speak with them about being aware of how much caffeine they are consuming in their drinks and keep it below 100 mg per day, not just per drink.