Will tea or coffee stunt your growth?

Last updated on September 19, 2020

Question:

I have a random question I wanted to asked: Does tea or coffee stunt your growth if kids or teens drink it?

Answer:

Caffeine is the ingredient in tea, coffee, and many sodas that concern people. It does not have any direct effect on growth and development. If there is an impact, it is indirect, such as causing a person to not get a good night’s rest. A continual lack of quality sleep will impact a person’s growth and development. [Courtney Humphries, “Does caffeine really stunt adolescents’ growth?” Boston.com, October 11, 2010.]

Interference with sleep may be hard for a teenager to detect since growth causes both increased needs to sleep and odd sleeping schedules. What I would suggest is avoiding caffeinated drinks after dinner and don’t use caffeinated drinks to artificially keep you awake, such as trying to stay up to get a project done. If you are too tired to stay awake, then you are better off getting the rest you need and starting again the next day.