When to drink coffee?

[Len]

How old do you think your kids should be before they drink coffee? Is high school an okay rule? I know a lot of high school kids hang out (or even work) at Starbucks so it seems silly for me to say "No coffee."

 

[john1007]

I started drinking coffee when I was seven years old. I really don't know what effect it had on my health. My parents told me that I kept insisting on drinking coffee since I loved the smell so much. They relented.

I am relatively healthy and of average height, was able to have children and basically stable mentally. So I guess the minimum age to start drinking coffee is seven.

 

[bighelp]

john1007 I know someone like that but instead of caffeine it was nicotine. A girls mother I knew years ago let her smoke from the age of 12 and up, the mother ended up dying of lung cancer too, then the girl quick years ago after also having to bury her dad. Sad story but sometimes parents are not always thinking about being parents, they care more about being the child's friend. C affine is just like nicotine, its a drug.

 

[Mikey]

I think after high school would be better. I know there's a lot of caffeine in pop but coffee can stain your teeth also and I just think it's better that they wait. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Len]

Caffeine is a drug but I think many things separate it from nicotine. I don't think that a teenager having coffee every once in a while is a big deal. To me that's nowhere near the same as puffing on a cigarette several times a day.

 

[Milt]

I think most people think of coffee as an "adult" beverage. My one concern would be if that's the perception, does that send a signal that it's OK to start drinking other adult beverages like alcohol?

 

[Jonathan]

Coffee has many health benefits but it has some drawbacks as well. Coffee has some chemicals as a defense mechanism of the plant. They are a bit psychotropic for humans, and toxic for wild animals.

 

[orangesweater]

If your child is already drinking cola or mountain dew then it is fine for them to drink coffee since they all have caffeine. However, if you are concerned, you should give your child decaffeinated coffee instead. Coffee itself is not bad for you it's the caffeine that is the concern.

 

[crowl]

I really do not like the idea of kids drinking caffeine. If we teach them about uppers in school why should we be allowing them to drink something that is a legal upper? Also, have you heard about the people who are drinking 5+ cups a day in order to lose weight?

 

[wilson]

I seldom drink coffee anymore and when I do its seldom. My gram used to give me coffee all of the time and I was quite a hyper kid growing up. This is part of the reason why kids should not have coffee to start with.