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Tali Farine is a regular at the Starbucks just a block away from her school. She began drinking coffee at age 9 or 10, she says, after watching her mother kick-start her mornings with a steaming pot. Now 14, she has a twice-daily habit that helps her wake up for school and stay up late doing homework.

“I like the taste of coffee. I like the bitterness,” she said, wearing rainbow-coloured mittens one morning before class in Toronto.

At ever-earlier ages, teens and tweens are becoming java junkies, a trend some experts warn carries health risks. But with pop machines chased out of many schools, more members of generation wired are flocking to coffee shops and their sweet concoctions — which, in some cases, pack an even higher sugar and caffeine wallop.

“A ban on selling coffee to children may be premature, but I'm not excluding it from the whole equation. I think we just need to take a closer look,” said Massimo Marcone, a food scientist and professor at the University of Guelph.

“Do [children] need other things to stimulate them more, chemically? I would say no.”

But along with countless other youngsters, Tali and her friend Melissa Florence rely on coffee to perk them up. Tali drinks it black at home but usually buys Java Chip Frappuccinos at Starbucks with her $10 weekly coffee allowance. Melissa, also 14, likes “anything mocha”.

On a recent chilly morning, they and hordes of other teens — mostly girls — dashed into a Starbucks in midtown Toronto for their daily fix before heading to class balancing coffee cups, cellphones and backpacks. In the afternoon, several lingered over lattes while catching up with friends or doing homework.

“A thousand people come here,” Madison Grgas-Skaab said with a giggle as she and her friend Mary O'Sullivan sat on stools by the window.

Madison, who has a part-time job at a Second Cup, started drinking vanilla lattes in the summer and Mary got hooked a couple of months ago. The 16-year-olds now drink one or two cups a day.

“I've gotten used to it, the taste. I never used to like coffee,” said Mary, who has long brown hair and wore an olive parka. “My mom prefers me to drink tea actually, but it's not like a big deal.”

While statistics on teenage coffee consumption vary, those in the field agree it is rising while the age of drinkers is falling. According to a 2004 on-line survey conducted by Youthography, a Toronto-based marketing agency, 52 per cent of 13- to 17-year-olds drink coffee, and one-third of those get it at home. Market research firm NPD Group found that 13- to 17-year-olds represented 4 per cent of the overall U.S. restaurant coffee market in 2005-2006, up from 3 per cent in 2004-2005.

The trend is so widespread that about half the students at St. Paul Secondary School in Mississauga start their days with coffee, said geography teacher Rosa Caldarelli. Some buy it at local shops and others get it at the school cafeteria.

“They shouldn't drink coffee at a young age. I think that's been said, but nobody listens,” she said.

In addition, many kids drink colas and caffeine-laden energy beverages.

Health Canada recommends average daily caffeine intake of no more than 85 milligrams for 10- to 12-year-olds, which is equivalent to two cans of cola or less than one brewed 8-ounce cup of coffee. One can of Red Bull, for example, contains the entire recommended daily allotment of caffeine for a 12-year-old.

For youngsters, heavy caffeine intake can cause headaches, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, digestive problems, heart palpitations, osteoporosis, and, for those who drink high-calorie beverages, obesity.

A study by a U.S. National Institute of Mental Health researcher found that 8- to 13-year-olds who regularly consumed high doses of caffeine were seen as more restless by teachers, and one-third were wired enough to meet the criteria for attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

And a University of Minnesota study found that when a group of 8- to 12-year-olds stopped consuming the equivalent of three cans of cola daily, their attention spans, manual dexterity, processing speed and memory declined within 24 hours and the deficit persisted for up to a week.

For retailers in Canada, the issue of selling youngsters coffee — which is still largely seen as an adult beverage — is thorny. Starbucks declined a request for an interview and instead released a written statement saying it offers products to suit all its customers, “including some products which may appeal to young people.”

Tim Hortons spokeswoman Diane Slopek-Weber said the chain does not market specifically to adolescents, though it welcomes them in its stores.

Harry Balzer, an industry expert for Chicago-area market research firm NPD Group, believes the rise in young drinkers is largely because kids enjoy spending time at coffee shops, which, for some, have replaced the diner, arcade and mall.

“All teenagers need to have a place to hang out and the hangout place of this day is a coffee shop. I think that's what it's a reflection of, although it's coming off sounding like we're trying to feed our kids coffee. And the truth of the matter is, we gave them [caffeinated] soft drinks a long time ago.”

However, many observers see the increased numbers of sweet, frothy beverages — which have more in common with milkshakes than a cup of joe — as an attempt to capture non-coffee drinkers, a group that happens to include most youngsters. For teens, sugary coffee concoctions often act as gateway beverages, said Suzanne Brown, an Atlanta-based marketing consultant who specializes in the industry.

“It's introducing the younger palate to the taste of coffee and as they become more sophisticated, then they will try coffee in its many different forms,” she said.

Some U.S. coffee companies have even opened outlets at high schools, she said, evidence that retailers see youngsters as a growth market. Their wider range of products — from coffee beverages to smoothies and pastries to sandwiches — is partially an attempt to draw kids away from fast-food restaurants.

And while coffee chains may not overtly court teenagers, their advertising campaigns also do not alienate them, said Max Valiquette, president of Youthography. “None of this stuff is off-putting to teens, which is just as much of an indication they recognize that this is part of their consumer base,” he said.

Mr. Valiquette argues the rise in teenage java junkies comes as pop's popularity has fallen amid pervasive negative messages, including widespread elimination of school soft-drink vending machines. At the same time, he notes the explosion of other caffeinated beverages, from iced tea to energy drinks. Coca-Cola recently introduced BlaK, a coffee-infused drink in an effort to capitalize on the thirst for coffee.

“It's really sugar and high-fructose corn syrup that have been considered the bad products that people have really been fighting. So I think part of it is that coffee and coffee beverages aren't the focus. There isn't that same focus on preventing young people from having them as there might have been,” Mr. Valiquette said. “The thought might be, ‘Well, if my kid's going to have a cola or a coffee, I'd prefer them to have a coffee at this point.'”

Indeed, despite the health risks, many teens drink coffee with the consent of their parents, who often see cafés as safer places than traditional hangouts. “I think that parents condone that,” said Ms. Brown, the Atlanta consultant. “I think they see this as a wholesome environment.”