CHILDRENS HEALTH AND FITNESS: Eliminate sodas, cut back on your child’s caffeine intake for a healthier diet

t’s almost impossible for children to never ingest caffeine, but it is important for parents to keep caffeine intake for their children at a minimum. It doesn’t take a lot of caffeine for a child to feel the physical and mental effects of the stimulant.
Advertisement

Higher levels of caffeine in the body can produce the effect of mental alertness and more energy. In young and small children, it doesn’t take a lot of caffeine to produce the feelings that come along with too much of the stimulant. Some of these effects could be headaches, increased heart rate and blood pressure, upset stomach, dehydration, nervousness and difficulty sleeping and concentrating.

Many of the foods and beverages children eat and drink contain caffeine. The most common are coffee, tea, sodas, chocolate and common over-the-counter medicines. Even 45 milligrams of caffeine can be borderline excessive for a child’s central nervous system to handle without negative effects. Considering a 12-ounce can of soda can have 34-70 milligrams of caffeine, this number can easily be exceeded with one drink for a child. Most sodas these days are served in 20-ounce bottles.

Caffeine is also a diuretic, which means it causes your child’s body to eliminate water. Therefore, the more soda your child drinks, the more dehydrated he or she will become. With all the playing and activity children do throughout their day, hydration can be a key factor in their mental and physical health.

Also, caffeine is addictive. Children enjoy the taste of sweet sodas that contain caffeine, which induces the feelings of alertness and high energy. The more soda and caffeine your child ingests, the more accustomed his or her body will become to the stimulant. This means they will crave higher amounts of caffeine to feel the effects.

Cutting back on caffeine, when a child is used to it, can make him or her feel tired, irritable, depressed and can cause headaches. The No. 1 way to help your child cut back on caffeine is to eliminate soda from the diet.

Serve flavored waters, milk and juice instead. Also, don’t forget that tea contains a huge amount of caffeine, so replacing sodas with tea can be just as bad.

Give your children a special water bottle to decorate with stickers and paint pens. This way, as they drink their recommended amount of water each day, it’s a little more exciting. Finally, lead by example.

The more soda your child sees you gulping down, the more likely he or she will be to do the same.

Source:www.citizen-times.com