More caffeine intake can affect teenagers’ bodies and minds poorly. Although caffeine creates alertness in adults by binding to the adenosine receptors in the brain, the same concentration of caffeine can affect the brains of teenagers differently.
Studies show that more caffeine intake can affect the sleeping abilities and maturing process of the brain in teenagers.
Teenagers have a smaller body weight than adults so caffeine has twice the impact on teenagers than on adults with the same amount of coffee.
This article will look at all the ways caffeine affects teenagers if coffee stunts growth,
What Are The Effects Of Coffee On Teenagers?
Teenagers and children are more susceptible to coffee-related health issues such as:
- Anxiety.
- Nervousness.
- Insomnia.
- Headache.
- Reduce focus level.
- Stress.
Studies show that the small brain or maturing brains of teenagers are more susceptible to addiction and stress than adults.
How Does Caffeine Affect Teenagers’ Brains?
During the age of adolescence, your brain forms most of the necessary neural connections. When you take more caffeine, the formation of neural connections is disturbed as caffeine affects your sleep-wake cycle.
When these neural connections are not formed properly it can damage your nervous system, making coffee drinking not ideal for people of a younger age.
Does Coffee Affect The Heart Of Teenagers?
Coffee intake by teenagers can also affect their hearts. Caffeine affects the enzymes of the heart that are responsible for the contraction of the heart.
Caffeine is responsible for the production of a natural hormone that causes the heart to release norepinephrine, which stimulates the heart muscles and causes vasoconstriction, meaning blood pressure can increase.
As the hearts muscles in teenagers are not as developed, caffeine puts pressure on their heart and causes high blood pressure and low heart rate with an increase of three to eight beats in one minute.
Does Coffee Affect Puberty In Teenagers?
Caffeine can boost systolic blood pressure especially in boys and delay their puberty time to a greater extent. According to research, boys are more sensitive to the effect of caffeine than girls. It is because girls face different blood pressure and heart rate changes during their menstrual cycle.
The effect of caffeine on girls and boys before puberty is almost the same. Caffeine intake can also disturb the hormonal function during puberty.
Does Coffee Affect The Teeth Of Children?
Sugar, caramel, and chocolate in the coffee can stain the teeth of teenagers. These teeth are in their growth phase, so coffee intake can cause long-lasting damage. As the coffee shops in schools and colleges add plenty of sugary items to enhance the taste of coffee, this can also contribute to tooth decay.
How Does Drinking Coffee Affect The Brains Of Teenagers?
Caffeine directly acts on the central nervous system in the brain, which is in the developing period in teenagers. The interaction of caffeine with the nervous system mainly depends on the adenosine receptors present in the brain, the transmitter that promotes sleep.
Adenosine promotes during the whole day and makes you drowsy at night. The molecular formula and structure of caffeine and adenosine are the same. So they fight with each other during the time of attachment to the receptor site of a neuron. Caffeine diminishes the activity of adenosine by slowing down its neural activity.
In this way, caffeine works to stimulate the central nervous system by blocking the adenosine and making young children stay awake for a long time. This can cause insomnia in young children.
Insomnia in children can lead to several other diseases after long exposure, such as:
- Heart disease.
- Asthma.
- Diabetes.
- Cancer.
- Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.
- Parkinson’s disease.
- Alzheimer’s Disease.
Does Coffee Stunt The Growth Of A Child?
Coffee itself does not slow children’s growth or lead them to short height, however, mismanagement of coffee can affect the health of your child in other ways, such as:
- Leading to an increase in weight in young children.
- It can cause early periods in young girls who have coffee in their daily routine.
- Teenagers who drink more coffee in a day can have problems with their sleep and they sleep 45 minutes less per night.
- School-age children drinking more coffee can lead them to the craving of smoking and alcohol use.
What Is The Acceptable Amount Of Coffee For Teenagers?
Here is a list of the reasonable amounts of coffee for children of different ages:
- Seven to nine years old children can drink about 63 mg of caffeine per day.
- Ten to twelve-year children can consume 80 mg of caffeine in a day.
- In adolescence, the amount of caffeine is good up to 200 mg per day.
Is It Bad For Teenagers To Drink Coffee Every Day?
Teenagers between the age of 14 to 17 years are recommended not to drink more than 100 mg of coffee a day, as this can cause health risks later in life.
It is advised for children under the age of 14 to avoid coffee. Drinking 100 mg of coffee may help to boost their mentality and improve their focus level, but drinking more than this can cause other health problems.
What Types Of Coffee Are Good For Teenagers?
Decaf coffee is typically considered good for teenagers as it has the least amount of caffeine. It will not have any negative effect on the health of young adults.
What Age Is Good For Drinking Coffee?
A good age to start drinking coffee is after 18 when a person’s body is properly matured and has a strong nervous system and heart. At this age, your body completes all the initial developments.
Teenagers are recommended to have a low dose of caffeine initially, and later, they can increase the quantity to 400 mg of caffeine with the right age.
What Happens If Teenagers Drink Coffee?
Drinking too much coffee can cause negative effects on health such as compromising their mood, depriving them of sleep, and a higher risk of aggression. Coffee can also make them jittery and nervous.
Taken in small amounts, such as less than 100 mg, may assist in cerebral performance, but must be done carefully to avoid upsetting their homeostasis.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.