Kids and Caffeine

Summary & Participants

Caffeine consumption can lead to side effects in children. Monitoring soda and chocolate intake may help limit the amount of caffeine children are exposed to.

Webcast Transcript

Dr. Dan: I’m Dr. Bruce Dan.

For doctors, every case starts out as a medical mystery. Let’s see how good you are at solving one recently published puzzle.

A case study in the Journal of Pediatrics describes a boy who suffered nervous tics starting at age seven. After ruling out the usual sources of tics like Tourette’s Syndrome, his doctor found out he was downing two to four soft drinks and large amounts of chocolate everyday.

Think you know what caused the problem? You might think sugar was to blame for the tics, but it turns out the real culprit was caffeine. Both the candy and the cola contained the stimulant and when it was removed from the boy’s diet, the tics disappeared.

It doesn’t take much soda to give a large dose of caffeine to a child. For a 40-pound youngster, a 12-ounce can provides the same kick as two cups of coffee for the average adult.

Here’s a follow-up mystery – the boy’s younger cousin also had tics, which disappeared when his caffeine consumption was cut to zero. But six months later, the symptoms mysteriously reappeared. Can you guess why? Doctors were confused, until they figured out the boy had been sneaking soft drinks.

With Doctor’s Corner, I’m Dr. Bruce Dan.