NEW YORK — While caffeine and toddlers doesn’t sound like a good mix, 15 percent of parents say their 2-year-olds are coffee drinkers, a study found.
Parents gave the toddlers an average of two tablespoons of coffee a day, with some getting as much as half a cup, according to research released recently by doctors at Boston Medical Center. Most of the coffee-drinking tots had mothers who were born outside the U.S., were Hispanic and had less than a high school education.
While a caffeine-free “babyccino” has become popular in some parts of Brooklyn, N.Y., parents who give real coffee to their children may be increasing their risk of depression, type 1 diabetes, poor sleep, substance abuse and obesity — all of which research has associated with caffeine use in children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against caffeine for kids. A small segment of children got coffee as early as age 1. While researchers didn’t examine why mothers gave coffee to their babies, Hispanic mothers were 15 times as likely than non-Hispanic mothers to give the beverage.
