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San Diego doctors warn parents against giving kids coffee

Kids as young as one and 2-years-old are drinking coffee and other caffeinated drinks.

SAN DIEGO — Kids as young as 1-years-old are getting buzzed on coffee.

But doctors warn there are some serious risks when you give young children caffeine.

“Parents are giving their children as young as 2, a bit of coffee,” said Willough Jenkins, M.D. Rady Children’s Hospital Behavioral Psychiatrist.

Parents seeing other kids drink coffee on social media might normalize it but doctors say this shouldn't be sipped lightly.

“It might be understandable why they might do this. It's kind of fun acting grown up and kids wanting to copy them, and parents may go along with it and not realize there are some risks,” said Jenkins. “I see more children coming in with more difficulty with sleeping, difficulty with anxiety, different with irritability with these caffeinated products.”

Dr. Jenkins says parents need to wake up to the risks.

“My colleagues in the emergency room, they see kids coming in with what we call Tachycardia, rapid heart rate. Where their heart is going really fast and coming in not knowing what is going on, it's a caffeine overdose.”

A 2015 study of Boston moms found that 14% allowed their 2-year-old to drink about a half cup of coffee and two and half percent gave coffee to their 1-year-old.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry say not even a sip is 'okay.'

“There is no safe allowed limit of caffeine for under 12,” said Jenkins.

It's not just coffee that should be avoided but soda and energy drinks.

A 16-ounce can of Monster has 150 milligrams of caffeine, that's equivalent to 4 cups of coffee. Even decaf should be off limits.

“Children are not little adults. The way that their body metabolizes and uses caffeine is different than for us,” said Jenkins.

Dr. Jenkins also warns of all the sugar and fats stirred in a cup of joe and how addictive caffeine is even for adults.

"There may be some children that might find coffee or caffeine is helping them and if that is the case, if your child is really fatigued or finding they are needing coffee to focus or concentrate...that should be a sign and I would really encourage them to contact their pediatrician,” said Jenkins.

AAP says children 12 and older can drink 100 milligrams of caffeine which is about one cup of coffee.

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