Unfortunately, many do, including younger children who drink sweet tea and caffeinated soda.
Kids can also get caffeine from certain medications, coffee ice cream, and chocolate.
Keep in mind that water and milk are the healthiest drinks for your child, in addition to limited amounts of 100% fruit juice. However, if you are going to give your child soda, at least consider choosing caffeine-free drinks, such as A&W Root Beer, Sprite, 7-Up and Seagram's Ginger Ale.
Remember, children and teens don't need any caffeine in their diet.
Caffeine Symptoms
In addition to causing sleep problems, symptoms and side effects of drinking coffee can include:- irritability
- tachycardia (increased heart rate)
- hypertension (increased blood pressure)
- headaches
- bedwetting
- acid reflux
Teens and Caffeine
Many teens, in addition to drinking regular caffeinated sodas, are now also drinking coffee, caffeinated waters, juices, and are even chewing caffeinated gum.But an even bigger hazard may be the 'super' caffeinated energy drinks such as Red Bull, Monster and Rockstar, which have about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, but much more caffeine than a regular soda.
Are your teens getting any caffeine in their diet? In addition to causing the symptoms above, teens who consume a lot of drinks with caffeine in them usually aren't drinking enough milk or other drinks with calcium, an important mineral for their growing bodies.
