Dietary Caffeine and Young Children: Implications for Health - Caffeine: Chemistry, Analysis, Function and Effects - page 362

N Generally speaking, lower amounts of caffeine consumed by lactating
mothers do not appear to affect infants, and are considered safe provided
the child is healthy.
N The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends only moderate amounts
of caffeine be consumed by breast-feeding women with the upper limit
between 200-300 mg per day.
N Withdrawal symptoms have been observed in newborns whose mothers
regularly consumed .400 mg per day of caffeine but the effects of caffeine
on infants appear to be time-limited and symptoms remit when caffeine
levels decrease.
N Caffeine is considered one of the safest and most cost-effective interventions
in the treatment and prevention of apnea of prematurity.
N Several countries have issued guidelines regarding caffeine consumption and
the European Union requires that beverages containing more than 150 mg
of caffeine be labeled ''high caffeine.''
N Current data regarding caffeine consumption in children and teens is
lacking and does not sufficiently account for numerous variables such as
developmental stage, gender, socio-economic status, or ethnicity and no
studies

d n 0 t 2 n g | 3

have examined the long-term health consequences of chronic

caffeine use by children and adolescents.

Key Facts
Trends in Caffeine Consumption
N

Caffeine is the most commonly used psychoactive substance in the world. It
is most commonly consumed as coffee, tea, and cola drinks; however, a new
class of beverages called ''energy drinks,'' that contain up to three times the
caffeine in a typical cola drink, are becoming increasingly popular among
children. Caffeine is not a heavily regulated substance, and although some
governments have promulgated guidelines for maximum daily intake, the
US Food and Drug Administration has not done so.

N

Caffeine drinks are heavily marketed to children and adolescents, who have
radically increased their average daily intake of caffeine over the last three
decades. Younger people (under 25 years old) currently comprise half the
market for energy drinks. In the US, there has recently been an effort to
limit the availability of caffeine drinks in schools, but this has had only a
limited affect on caffeine consumption among this population.

Effects on children
N

The effects of caffeine on the central nervous system have been well
investigated in adults and adolescents, but much less so in young children.
Low to moderate doses seem to improve attention, memory, and reaction
time performance in children, but higher doses are associated with
deleterious effects including increased fidgeting, restlessness, hyperactivity,