Medical Questions » Diet Questions » Question No. 273
| Question: | My daughter is 16 and drinks 4 to 5 cups of medium strength coffee each day. Is this too much caffeine for someone her age? |
| Answer: | Your daughter' s consumption is at the upper level of what is considered acceptable for caffeine intake in adults, and at 16 your daughter is virtually at the adult stage. Brewed coffee has higher amounts of caffeine (60 to 130 mg per 100 mL) than instant coffee (40 to 100 mg per 100 mL).
Caffeine is also found in tea and cola drinks. Tea has roughly half the amount of coffee (40 to 60 mg per 100 mL), and cola drinks less than one quarter the amount in coffee (10 mg per 100 mL). Stimulant soft drinks (eg. Red Bull) containing very large amounts of caffeine are also available.
Caffeine acts as a mild stimulant, and may cause your daughter to have difficulty in sleeping if she drinks it within an hour or two of going to bed. In higher doses (I use the word dose deliberately, because caffeine is a drug) it can cause anxiety, nervousness and an increase in the amount of urine produced. It will aggravate peptic ulcers, indigestion and heartburn.
Caffeine is also used in medications to prevent drowsiness and fatigue, ease migraines and help with motion sickness. It is forbidden in sport as it may marginally improve performance, and some athletes who have large amounts of coffee have been disqualified from international competition because of excess caffeine levels.
Provided your daughter is made aware of the problems that may occur with coffee and its caffeine content, and does not exceed her present intake, she is unlikely to come to any significant harm. Maybe she could use decaffeinated coffee sometimes.
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