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.
