Giving children tea to drink isn’t something you see much of, as it’s seen very much as a grown up’s drink alongside coffee. But I’ve always thought giving the boys a nice cup of milky tea without sugar, is far better than a sugary squash or fizzy drink. Concerns about caffeine waft at the back of my mind, but I always make it very weak and top it up with lots of milk.
So I was pleased to see some research out this week that backs up my hot drink selection for the boys. A new review on caffeinated drinks in children by independent public health nutritionist and dietitian, Dr Carrie Ruxton has concluded that up to two cups of tea daily may be safely consumed by younger children, while older school aged children can consume up to three cups of tea.
Surprising stuff. Perhaps even more interesting is the actual reported benefits a small amount of caffeine can have on children. In controlled trials, attention, dexterity and memory tests showed that caffeine improved performance on attention and motor task tests and children felt less sluggish.
So Sam and Arlo’s milky breakfast cuppa sets them up for a good day at school! It’s definitely in the blood as my mother-in-law used to give my husband and his two brothers milky tea in a baby bottle when they were little. I remember feeling very grown up when my mum let me start drinking it, I reckon I was about 8 or 9.
Maybe the next high street trend will be tea bars aimed at children?!
But what do YOU think about giving tea to children? Do you let your kids drink it? How old were you when you started drinking tea? Let me know your thoughts!
Like you I do allow very milky tea (though I try and stick to Rooibos to reduce the caffeine – my two are so bad at sleeping they don’t need something that might help delay that any further!!
oh blimey that’s a good point Nazima… keeping kids awake at night is definitely a bad idea! It’s definitely just a breakfast drink in this house!
Both my kids (6&8) love tea, and my eldest loves a very milky cup of coffee in the mornings. I’ve bought decaf tea bags especially for them, but figure the odd normal one is better than sugary fizzy drinks, as you said.
Absolutely – tea has so many health benefits that sugary fizzy drinks certainly don’t! Too much fruit juice and squash has an impact on their teeth. I’m quite proud of the fact that Arlo’s favourite drink is actually water.
I’d rather just give them milk to be honest. I drink decaf tea and wouldn’t be aversed to let him drink some if he’d shown any interest (just with milk, no sugar). I can’t remember when I first started drinking tea, probably around the age of 7 or 8 but only occasionally.
I’d worry more about kids drinking energy drinks which is far more likely in today’s society than tea.
Ooh a strange thing though is when my son was a baby, I remember reading about a woman who used to give her baby milky tea in a bottle! I vividly remember reading her words saying “I have to put some sugar in it so he takes it but he loves it!” What’s more was I was surprised how common this was!
Yep energy drinks are not a great thing to get into, and i’m hoping I can keep my boys away from them. My husband and his brothers had milky tea in a baby bottle when they were little… they LOVED it!!! They drink a LOT of tea in their family. When they come to stay we get through a staggering amount of tea bags!!!!
My eldest loves a cuppa tea. We do let her have some sugar and she likes it very milky anyway so I don’t worry about the caffeine. It’s such a big part of my day so it would be hard to stop her having it as she start to grow older. I must confess though I would not have given her tea had she been younger. She’s 11 now so I’m OK with it.
There’s just something so comforting about tea. That first cup in the morning lifts me and the boys out of our foggy bed heads!
i think having some tea is far better than having a glass of squash or a can of fizzy pop. Like you say, I always make it for the children with lots of milk and not much actual tea, just enough to flavour the drink. I think they would enjoy it more often if I was more of a tea drinker than a coffee drinker so they don’t have it much and they certainly can’t stand coffee!
Sounds very similar to this house! My morning and afternoon cuppa are sacred, but coffee is king!