A study found that the majority of children are drinking enough caffeine daily to equal a cup of coffee. The study surveyed 228 children between the ages of five and 13. Researchers, who where attempting to find a correlation between caffeine and bed-wetting, reported that 75 percent of children consume caffeine in the form of caffeinated sodas.
The study found that the average child between the ages of five and seven drink an average of 52 milligrams if caffeine a day. Even very young children are drinking a considerable amount of caffeinated soda. Slightly older children, ages eight to 12 averaged 109 milligrams of caffeine per day, the same amount that’s found in a cup of drip coffee. This much caffeine could potentially affect a child’s sleep.
William J. Warzak, a professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska and lead author of the study, said that children do not need caffeine. “You’re not a terrible parent if a kid has a Coke away from home,” he said, but that parents should try to limit their children’s caffeine intake.
Via The New York Times.
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