Skip to main content

Experts explain why coffee is bad for tweens

It comes in so many forms, from lattes to espresso shots, coffee is everywhere that you look. Just the smell of coffee grounds is so tempting when you open up a new can of coffee. So many of us depend on it to kick start our morning or to keep us going throughout the day. But this consumption of caffeine begs to ask the question, is coffee bad for kids? Are there dangers of letting our teens drink their caramel macchiato? We dive deep and look at expert advice and answer the question of, “Should kids drink coffee?”

How Can Coffee Affect Tweens?

The very many ways that coffee can affect our tweens is kind of crazy when you find out that too much caffeine can lead to calcium absorption, meaning those growing bones that we try to give them with good foods can be counteracted by the caffeine that we allow them to have. Not only that, but it can be addictive, as it is a stimulant, which, when taken away from the child can lead to caffeine withdrawal with ills like headaches and stomachaches.

Iced Coffees
Love Solutions / Shutterstock

Coffee Is Not Nourishing in Any Diet

Coffee can be simply empty calories when your child drinks it. Especially if they drink it with a bunch of sugar or creamers and even the coffee syrups. It can lead to neurological and cardiac problems as well. If your child is already an anxious child, caffeine will surely increase it for them. A big obvious side effect of tweens drinking coffee is insomnia, where they cannot sleep at night and stay up. This can mess up things like getting up in the morning, school schedules, etc. Things like mood swings also may start occurring in a tween that drinks coffee.

Recommended Videos

The Experts Weigh In:

Cassie Bjork, RD told Healthline:

There’s not necessarily a black and white answer for what age is appropriate to introduce coffee. The main downfall is that coffee has caffeine, a stimulant, which can make it an addictive substance. The effects of excessive caffeine include hyperactivity, insomnia, poor appetite regulation, mood swings, and anxiety.

She further goes on to explain that for children, caffeine can have addicting qualities, and children can easily get hooked on coffee if it is drunk in excessive quantities. Toby Amidor, MS, talked to Healthline and said that starting later is better, saying “A few sips here and there is no big deal. However, when sips turn into daily cups, that’s a whole other story. Coffee is addictive, and withdrawal symptoms are real, so the later you start, the better.”

Soda Pour
Vintage Tone/Shutterstock

Don’t Forget About Soda

While our main focus here is coffee, there are other things that are lurking about that also contain caffeine and can become addictive to a child. The more soda that our children consume, the worse it becomes. Not only are they now hooked on the caffeine that is contained in the soda, but also the sugar, which can also be an addictive substance all on its own. Energy drinks can also be the absolute worst thing that a child can consume. They contain copious amounts of caffeine, and once a tween tries one, that is all it might take for them to become hooked on them, where they need and want them all of the time.

Fancy Coffee Drink
Yue Iris/Unsplash

Fancy Coffee Drinks

Ads for them are everywhere. We see them on TV, on our phones, computers, and more. They make their product look alluring so that our kiddos are drawn to it. If the latest cold foam is out, be certain that your child will want to try it out, just like everyone else is. These coffee drinks not only contain caffeine, but with the amount of sugar and syrup and whipped cream, plus all of the toppings that you can choose from, they will add nothing to our children’s bodies but problems. Stay away from these places as an example of willpower that you can do it. If they see that you can, so can they.

Caffeine Affects The Nervous System

Our children are still growing. It is said that the brain of an adult is not reached until around age 25 or so. Having coffee, soda, or an energy drink often may lead to permanent effects in your child’s brain. Jennifer Temple, Director, Nutrition and Health Research Laboratory at the University of Buffalo said, “The thing that concerns me is that because children and adolescent brains are still developing, and because caffeine directly impacts the nervous system, there is an opportunity for caffeine to change the development of the brain, and we don’t really know exactly how that will happen.” As parents, this is what we don’t want to happen! One of the things that we can do to stop our tweens from consuming caffeine is to lead by example. We can cut down our caffeine intake entirely or partially. This will show them that if you can cut caffeine, then they can do it as well.

Coffee really does not have any place in our children’s diets. It truly adds zero nutritional value, and there are so many things that coffee filled with caffeine can do to our children. As parents, if we truly want to help our kids thrive, we should keep the caffeine away from them. As to when you want to start introducing them to coffee, that’s at your discretion, of course.

Jennifer Passmore
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jennifer has written two books on how to deal with living with chronic illness using the power of positivity. She has written…
11 tasty snack ideas kids will love at birthday parties
Fun snacks for kids to eat up at your child's birthday party
Young girls celebrating a birthday with cake

When you're hosting a child's birthday party, you always wonder about the food situation. What could you serve a handful or up to a dozen or more different children from different backgrounds and varying eating habits that all will enjoy and eat? No one wants to see any child hungry, so if your kid has their special day coming up and invited the whole class over, here are snacks for a kid's birthday party that will be eaten by the end of the festivities.
Snacks the kids can make

Mini pizzas
You can do this one so many ways, and the fun part is the children can put these together themselves. You could make it a part of the party and set it up like a game. It will take up some time and feed the kiddos. Use English muffins, mini bagel bites, or small buns as the base, and let the children create their own mini pizzas.
Mini hot dogs
You could do regular hot dogs, but for a party, make smaller versions so it's easier for a child to grab a little one here and there throughout. Cut up one larger hot dog into three smaller parts to create mini versions and let the kids add different toppings.
Fruit skewers
Depending on the age of the kids so they don't stab themselves (or anyone else), skewers are another cool idea for the children to make themselves. Dice fruit into little cubes and let the children customize them how they want so no fruit goes to waste.
Easy go-to's that never fail

Read more
Make-ahead Thanksgiving appetizers kids can make
Get the whole family involved in prepping Thanksgiving with these simple and tasty appetizers
Inviting bowl of pumpkin hummus

Hosting Thanksgiving comes with a very long to-do list. It's a huge undertaking, but kids and teens can actually do more than you think, especially when it comes to easy Thanksgiving appetizers. Appetizers set the stage for that amazingly delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

Make-ahead appetizers are a low-stress way to give your guests something tasty to munch on while they're waiting for the main event. With these simple recipes, busy parents can put the kids to work with minimal supervision to whip up these delectable Thanksgiving appetizers.
Easy Thanksgiving appetizers

Read more
Easy Thanksgiving desserts to wow the family
Thanksgiving dessert recipes that are quick, simple, and delish
Pumpkin cupcake for Thanksgiving dessert

Pies like apple, pumpkin, and pecan are Thanksgiving dessert staples. Sure, they are seasonal and delicious, but they're also difficult and time consuming to bake. Of course, you can buy one, but with skyrocketing bakery prices, you may want to opt for homemade to save some money.

If you are hunting for a simple, sweet dish to make this November, we have easy Thanksgiving dessert recipes that are quick to put together. A couple don't even require baking. Thanksgiving prep can be overwhelming, so you don't need to go crazy with a complicated dessert. These low-stress Thanksgiving desserts are so simple that you can actually put older kids and teens to work whipping them up.
Easy Thanksgiving dessert ideas

Read more