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Kids and Caffeine
Aired June 10, 2003 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it may be harder than you think to control your children's caffeine consumption. A new report says caffeine is lurking in some drinks you'd never suspect, from coffee to coke, we know those, to bottled water? Let's get the scoop from Dr. Sandy Fryhofer, joining us here across the newsroom.
Sandy, water?
DR. SANDY FRYHOFER, CNN CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Water has caffeine, is that true.
FRYHOFER: Well, Miles, it's amazing the caffeine that's hidden in some of the most popular drinks that you and your family probably drink. There is a report in "Consumer Reports" magazine that tested some of the most popular drinks. And aside from the obvious tea or cola, they found some surprising results. Among the findings, Mountain Dew has a lot more caffeine then Coke or Pepsi. Sunkist Orange has nearly as much caffeine as Coca-Cola, while Minute Maid Orange has none.
And if you buy those trendy bottles of water, you're not escaping the caffeine either. Ounce for ounce, Glaceau vitamin water topical citrus drink has twice the caffeine as Nestea iced tea.
And other example -- and I heard this is your favorite, Miles, the frappachinos (ph) from Starbucks. We've got one right here. The coolers have milk, coffee, usually a flavor, such as mocha is added. And if you drink them, get ready. A 9 1/2 ounce bottle of the drink delivers about as much caffeine as three cans of coke.
So you may ask, what does all this do to your system? Normal doses, such as a cup of coffee can certainly give you a temporary jolt. But when you start upping the number of trips to the coffee maker, you'll start seeing symptoms like anxiety, nausea, upset stomach.
So after hearing all this, what is the safe amount for your and your family? Well, experts say that children, kids should have no more than 100 milligrams per day, and that's about three cans of coke. For younger children, about half that amount. For adults, the dose goes up to 300 milligrams a day, which is about two to three cups of coffee, and that's considered to be moderate intake.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sandy. Three cans of Coke for a kid seems like a lot to me.
FRYHOFER: We're not going to ask you how much you drink, Miles.
O'BRIEN: I've got this little twitch. I'm not sure why I have this twitch, but anyway, seven, eight cups of coffee, so what.
What can you do, because there's a pressure for kid to get specific kinds of drinks -- what can you do to try to reduce the consumption?
FRYHOFER: One thing you can is have your child drink a smaller- sized drink, rather than one of the big 32 or 40-ounce drinks. Remember, if you love chocolate, milk chocolate has less caffeine than the dark chocolate. Milk chocolate has 10 milligrams; the dark has 28 milligrams. You can always choose decaffeinated. That doesn't mean caffeine free. But it does mean that 97 percent of the caffeine products have been removed. So that can help.
O'BRIEN: Dr. Sandy Fryhofer, always a pleasure to see you, thank you. Take care.
FRYHOFER: Thanks, Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 10, 2003 - 13:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it may be harder than you think to control your children's caffeine consumption. A new report says caffeine is lurking in some drinks you'd never suspect, from coffee to coke, we know those, to bottled water? Let's get the scoop from Dr. Sandy Fryhofer, joining us here across the newsroom.
Sandy, water?
DR. SANDY FRYHOFER, CNN CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Water has caffeine, is that true.
FRYHOFER: Well, Miles, it's amazing the caffeine that's hidden in some of the most popular drinks that you and your family probably drink. There is a report in "Consumer Reports" magazine that tested some of the most popular drinks. And aside from the obvious tea or cola, they found some surprising results. Among the findings, Mountain Dew has a lot more caffeine then Coke or Pepsi. Sunkist Orange has nearly as much caffeine as Coca-Cola, while Minute Maid Orange has none.
And if you buy those trendy bottles of water, you're not escaping the caffeine either. Ounce for ounce, Glaceau vitamin water topical citrus drink has twice the caffeine as Nestea iced tea.
And other example -- and I heard this is your favorite, Miles, the frappachinos (ph) from Starbucks. We've got one right here. The coolers have milk, coffee, usually a flavor, such as mocha is added. And if you drink them, get ready. A 9 1/2 ounce bottle of the drink delivers about as much caffeine as three cans of coke.
So you may ask, what does all this do to your system? Normal doses, such as a cup of coffee can certainly give you a temporary jolt. But when you start upping the number of trips to the coffee maker, you'll start seeing symptoms like anxiety, nausea, upset stomach.
So after hearing all this, what is the safe amount for your and your family? Well, experts say that children, kids should have no more than 100 milligrams per day, and that's about three cans of coke. For younger children, about half that amount. For adults, the dose goes up to 300 milligrams a day, which is about two to three cups of coffee, and that's considered to be moderate intake.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sandy. Three cans of Coke for a kid seems like a lot to me.
FRYHOFER: We're not going to ask you how much you drink, Miles.
O'BRIEN: I've got this little twitch. I'm not sure why I have this twitch, but anyway, seven, eight cups of coffee, so what.
What can you do, because there's a pressure for kid to get specific kinds of drinks -- what can you do to try to reduce the consumption?
FRYHOFER: One thing you can is have your child drink a smaller- sized drink, rather than one of the big 32 or 40-ounce drinks. Remember, if you love chocolate, milk chocolate has less caffeine than the dark chocolate. Milk chocolate has 10 milligrams; the dark has 28 milligrams. You can always choose decaffeinated. That doesn't mean caffeine free. But it does mean that 97 percent of the caffeine products have been removed. So that can help.
O'BRIEN: Dr. Sandy Fryhofer, always a pleasure to see you, thank you. Take care.
FRYHOFER: Thanks, Miles.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
