Coffee and tea: Should parents let their baby drink or not?

Tea and coffee are two of the beverages that contain stimulants that are not good for the health of children. If parents do not promptly advise, the consequences for their children will be great.

For adults, tea and coffee are very popular drinks because they contain a number of stimulants that are used to help users feel extremely alert. However, for children, these drinks should not be used by the nervous system as well as the baby's body is not fully developed to be able to withstand the effects that these stimulants cause. So specifically, what are the negative consequences that you might experience when consuming these two drinks? With aFamilyToday Health, find out through the article right below.

The essence of tea and coffee

For a long time, coffee has been used as a medicine for asthma, headaches and colds, or pumped into the body through the rectum to detoxify when poisoning opium. Medicinal plants are used medicinally to stimulate appetite and enhance digestion, promote intestinal spasm and help food pass through the digestive tract faster. This medicine also has the ability to prevent gallstones  and  Parkinson's disease .

The main ingredient in coffee and tea is caffeine , a stimulant that has a strong impact on the central nervous system. Caffeine is also present in other carbonated drinks and even in some cold medicines. When consuming caffeine, users will feel refreshed, improve mood, help increase stamina because caffeine now has a stimulating effect on the central nervous system.

100 g of coffee has 40 mg of caffeine, while 100 g of tea has 11 mg of caffeine. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, caffeine intake must be less than:

5mg for children from 4-6 years old;

62.5mg for children from 7-9 years old;

85mg for children from 10-12 years old.

You can drink 60-200 ml of coffee mix per day. However, the possibility of death can occur if you consume about 100 cups of coffee per day.

You can drink coffee to reduce mental and physical fatigue as well as increase alertness. Coffee is also used to prevent  type 2 diabetes ,  stomach cancer , lung cancer and  breast cancer . Other uses for coffee include treating headaches, lowering blood pressure,  obesity,  and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

However, you should consult your doctor before using coffee or tea as a medicine for your child.

Let your children use caffeinated tea or coffee will affect your child through a number of ways as follows:

Sleep problems. Many reports have shown that children who consume caffeine have problems with sleep disorders. Caffeine raises blood pressure and induces anxiety in children and in turn leads to sleep problems. Caffeine is also the cause of hyperactivity and difficulty concentrating in babies;

Addictive. If you forget to drink tea or coffee in the morning or evening, you will definitely have a headache. This is the same story with many of us including children. Giving your baby coffee or tea every day is definitely a bad habit, the child will be addicted and very difficult to quit ;

Low nutritional value. A cup of tea or coffee is low in nutrients. Instead of giving your baby tea or coffee, fresh milk or fruit juice will be a more scientific choice for your baby to be healthy and improve his resistance;

Increase your sugar intake.  Coffee and tea contain a certain amount of sugar in them. The baby's body absorbs too much sugar, leading to tooth decay as well as obesity ;

Stimulate urination a lot. Coffee is a diuretic. This means that drinking more coffee makes babies urinate more, leading to dehydration, calcium loss through urine. As we all know, calcium is an essential mineral for the development of bones and teeth in children. For every 100 g of caffeine, 6 g of calcium is lost in the urine;

Stomach problems. The digestive system in general and the child's stomach in particular are not yet fully developed, so they cannot be equipped with caffeine treatment agents. Therefore, even a very low caffeine intake can lead to stomach problems and heartburn.

Coffee and tea adversely affect the health of children, so parents need to skillfully remind their children not to use until the child reaches adulthood.