Can children drink coffee: tips for parents

The intake of fluids throughout the day plays an important role in building a healthy diet for the child. Indeed, not only the well-being and mood of the kids, but also their health condition depends on the proper drinking regimen. That is why most parents from the youngest years often reflect on the beneficial properties of various drinks in the diet of growing crumbs. Many people think that coffee is the most dangerous among drinks, but there are many opinions on this issue.

Some parents allow their child to drink coffee from a very young age, while others - absolutely do not accept to drink this drink even schoolchildren during adolescence. However, how true are these opposing opinions, and where is the truth hidden in this matter? Is it really possible for children to drink coffee, or does it harm the baby? At what age do doctors recommend a coffee drink? And how much can it be consumed by children?

Doctors specializing in various types of diseases and pediatricians have conducted more than one study to determine the positive and negative consequences of drinking coffee at a young age. Experienced specialists were able to collect reliable information to give answers to all questions of interest to parents about this.

What is good coffee for children?

There is no reason to argue about the beneficial properties of coffee for an adult organism! Indeed, coffee beans contain vitamin A - the so-called retinol, as well as vitamin D of the group - calciferol. In addition, coffee is rich in flavonoids and various minerals, including iodine, magnesium and phosphorus. Undoubtedly, all these nutrients are necessary for the growing body of the child to ensure its vital functions. And coffee, no doubt, helps strengthen human immunity and helps a small body cope with many processes during its growing up.

It is important to know that, on the one hand, coffee, in fact, has a beneficial effect on the health of the child:

1. A coffee drink helps stimulate the activity of the human brain.
2. Memory improves, and the child begins to learn more necessary knowledge in a short period of time.
3. Coffee invigorates, which means it helps to wake up in the morning strong and full of energy for school.
4. A coffee drink helps relieve fatigue.
5. The physical activity, endurance and reaction of the child improves.
6. Coffee helps in the fight against allergic attacks and asthma.
7. Coffee beans can protect against radiation and prevent the development of caries in the oral cavity.
8. Coffee helps to activate the gastrointestinal tract, but provided that there are no problems with the stomach.
9. Thanks to coffee, the baby's attention improves.
10. The mood rises from a morning cup of coffee, and the child feels much more confident.

All these positive reviews seem to some parents quite convincing for a positive assessment of the effect of coffee on the growing body of the child. Parents quickly decide for themselves whether to give their child coffee. But there is another side to this drink - extremely negative for the body of children. How do these two opposing opinions on the benefits and dangers of coffee balance with each other?

Before pouring a cup of invigorating coffee to their child, parents should inquire about its harm to the child's body. According to pediatricians, various negative effects and adverse reactions from the frequent use of a coffee drink nullify all the above beneficial qualities of coffee.

What is harmful coffee for children?

Not every adult body can tolerate such an active component of an invigorating drink as caffeine without consequences. And what about a child’s developing organism in this case? Therefore, it is natural that the substance caffeine is unsafe for a children's developing organism. This information is confirmed by scientific studies, therefore, there can be no doubt about this. Accordingly, parents should first of all think about the harmful properties of coffee and take into account the recommendations of doctors. If you regularly give your child coffee in the morning, then the drink can cause a destructive effect to a fragile body and result in negative health consequences:

1. Natural and especially instant coffee in large quantities contribute to the excretion of calcium from the child's body, while thanks to this element a healthy body develops and grows.
2. The impact of coffee on the hormonal state of health of an adult is considered to be positive, but the consequences for the child's body are disappointing, and in the future parents may face serious malfunctioning of hormones during puberty.
3. Coffee helps stimulate the brain, and affects those parts of the brain that are responsible for pleasure. With the frequent use of this drink, a person feels vigor and strength. The brain centers, signaling the satisfaction of the whole organism, are gradually getting used to the action of coffee, and a person begins to consume it in large quantities. If the body does not receive the coffee dose on time, the body becomes depressed and the person feels weak in the body. At the same time, children who were allowed to drink coffee in childhood might need stronger stimuli over time for the center of pleasure of the brain. The most typical among them are smoking cigarettes, taking drugs and alcohol.
4. Caffeine actively affects the fragile nerve cells of children. With the accumulation of a large amount of caffeine in a child’s body, strong excitability increases. The substance activates the mental activity of the child, gives a surge of energy for three to four hours after drinking a cup of coffee. Inexperienced parents may think that this effect has a beneficial effect on the condition of their child, but artificially induced arousal, in fact, is harmful to the child's body. After caffeine ceases to act, the child will become moody for no reason, may cry a lot, feel lethargic, tired and distracted. The physical forces that the child had to plan to distribute throughout the day will be expended in these three to four hours.
5. Caffeine can interfere with a baby’s sleep. At the same time, children begin to experience problems with falling asleep quickly, sleep patterns are disturbed, and at night the child often gets out of bed.
6. Also, coffee beans contain a substance called benzopyrene, which has dangerous properties and adversely affects the body. Benzopyrene is a carcinogen that can lead to malignant tumors and other complex diseases. Many food products on supermarket shelves already contain this substance. Therefore, it is doubly dangerous for this harmful component to enter the child's body also due to the use of coffee.
7. Coffee has a great diuretic effect, so a child can often go to the toilet. This contributes to the rapid elimination of fluid, and together with water, mineral components necessary for the health of the child, for example, calcium, are released.
8. Due to the fact that coffee affects the active work of the heart and increases pressure, malfunctions in the work of the heart and blood vessels may begin over time in the children's body. Therefore, do not abuse this drink and disrupt the cardiovascular system at an early age.

It often happens that parents do not even realize the negative side of the effect of coffee on the nervous system and the children's body as a whole.They observe how the child quite often becomes lethargic, then active, and in a hurry to draw conclusions about teenage syndromes of distraction or increased activity. It’s great if parents come across an experienced doctor who will follow the child’s drinking regimen and explain the reason for this reaction of the body to coffee. However, even experts are mistaken, therefore, doctors may not determine the main cause at the time and prescribe strong medications for the child, which his healthy body does not need at all.

In order not to harm the health and proper development of the child’s body, parents should take into account all the advantages and disadvantages of coffee, and add it to the child’s diet with caution after 10 years, 1 cup in 1-2 days.

Video: what is harmful coffee?