Quite a few individuals may be aware about the harmful effects of consuming caffeine in excess quantities. Investigations have already asserted caffeine consumption to raise risk of miscarriage and lead to low weight baby. Well this article enlightens the possible ill-effects of caffeine consumption for kids. According to a recent study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, children consuming caffeine everyday have several sleep problems.
At the time of the study, parents of over 200 children 5 to 12 years old were surveyed in routine clinical visits at an urban pediatric clinic. Scientists asked the parents about the types as well as amounts of snacks and beverages their child consumed on a daily basis. Kids as young as 5 years old were consuming the equivalent to a can of soda per day. 75 percent children were drinking caffeine on a daily basis and the more they drank, the less they slept. Experts observed that older children drank more caffeinated beverages. Those between the age group of 8 and 12 years consumed an average of 109 mg a day. This quantity may be equal to almost 3 12-ounce cans of soda
Dr. William Warzak and colleagues were unable to associate bedwetting with caffeine consumption among the study children. Even though caffeine is a diuretic, incidences of bedwetting appeared less among those drinking every day. It is important that parental awareness regarding their child’s caffeine consumption is undertaken and parents have to know the potentially negative influence of caffeine on a child’s sleep quality as well as daily functioning. It was suggested that screening patients for caffeine consumption and educating parents about the potentially harmful effects of caffeine can be beneficial.
The study is published in The Journal of Pediatrics.