Drinking coffee stunts your growth

Question

We’ve all heard the old adage that coffee will stunt your child’s growth. But is it true? Turns out … no. But there’s still plenty you should know about the effects of caffeine on children and what can actually impact their growth. Pediatric endocrinologist Roy Kim, MD says that caffeine doesn't impact growth. No one is exactly sure where this belief originated.

Comments

Coffee stunting your growth is a myth, I have personally experienced it and watched it not affect mine and other families growth. Also, stated in the article above, studies have shown it is a myth.

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The claim that coffee stunts you growth is a myth and the article published by Cleveland Clinic is a reliable source that ensures this statement. First and foremost, the Cleveland Clinic is among the top four ranked American hospitals by the National Institutes of Health, proving credibility of the site. Additionally, the author of the article provides a variety of information that revolves around if coffee stunts growth, how coffee really affects children, and what can impact the growth of children. Each of these perspective relate to the main argument and are supported by reliable evidence. Something specific that author did to ensure the accountability in their work was by adding links to where information was gathered from. This immediately lets reader see if the evidence is collected from reliable sources and provides more information to support the claim. In coherence to this article, there are many other credible sources like CBS News, Harvard Health, and The New York Times that provide evidence from the same statement. Overall, the claim that coffee doesn't stunt growth is reliable and trustworthy.

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After reading the source you provided, I think it's notable to include Dr. Kim says “Caffeine does not meaningfully impact how tall a child gets”. The same article goes on later to say that “caffeine is an appetite suppressant.”  I would speculate that suppressing your appetite would impact your growth. But Dr Kim later says “but that doesn’t translate into a meaningful impact on child growth.” So I think it's fair to say that coffee doesn't stunt children's growth.

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I like how you conducted research from a prestigious and trusted source, that makes your evidence and argument much more reliable.

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From the sources provided, it is clear the claim that coffee stunts your growth is false. However, I think that the information gathered from research is a very necessary aspect in deciding the truth since this has been a basically age-old myth for so long.

Answer 1

This claim is false and a common myth, caffeine doesn't stunt childhood growth. As detailed in the article however, there are several negative effects of childhood caffeine intake such as insomnia, headache, and sleep problems. The website (Cleveland health clinic) itself is a credible site, but these two ideas are further backed up by organizations like the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry- https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Caffeine_and_Children-131.aspx. So no, caffeine doesn't stunt children's growth but side affects like restlessness and nausea/lack of appetite could have long term affects on a child's development which includes their growth.

Comments

Thanks for pointing out that there are certain side effects of childhood caffeine intake that can negatively impact the health of children. While the claim is false, it's important to note that coffee is not entirely healthy for children to consume.

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I like that you found additional reliable sources to back up your fact check. I also appreciated that you talked about some of the actual possible negative effects of caffeine because it added some context to understanding where the idea originated from.

Answer 2

No, drinking coffee does not stunt your growth. This is just a myth. Caffeine has no effect on how tall you grow. What really matters for growth are factors like genetics, getting enough calories and nutrients, and having a healthy environment. This article is reliable and backs up everything they're claiming.

Comments

What's your source? Also cite it in-text and include a hyperlink. Thanks!

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This fact check does not provide significant information to successfully prove the claim false.  You do not disprove the original source that the author linked, but you also don't provide sources to support the evidence that you state in your fact check. It is clear that you used some sort of article for your information, so make sure to cite it in order to make your fact check reliable.

Answer 3

After carefully researching, it is shown that caffeine does not directly impact growth. Caffeine has many side effects both positive and negative. The National Institute of Health concludes their research on this topic with those side effects. The positive ones being long term intelligence and increased motor activity. The negative side effects are more of emotional sensitivity such as anxiety and depression. Now at the start of this answer, I mentioned how caffeine does not DIRECTLY impact growth. However one of the negative side effects is an inconsistent sleep schedule. Studies show that humans grow in their sleep. With that being said, caffeine does not directly impact growth but can indirectly. The sources used are reliable because they had various medical insight. The article given with the claim provides insight from Roy Kim, an endocrinologist. Endocrinologists are medical professionals who specialize in growth, diabetes, metabolic disorders, and much more. All of these can be tied to the consuming of caffeine.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7177467/#abstract1

Answer 4

The claim that coffee stunts growth has been around for ages and article from harvard health https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/can-coffee-really-stunt-your-growth#:~:text=Separating%20Truth%20from%20Fiction,associated%20with%20loss%20of%20height). Has proven that it isn't true. Scientists have studied this and found that coffee doesn't actually affect height or growth. The idea has come from the fact that coffee can reduce how much calcium our bodies take in but it's not enough to make a difference in height. The idea may have also been from the misconception that coffee causes osteoporosis but coffee does not cause osteoporosis.

Answer 5

We have all heard the saying, "Coffee stunts your growth," but is it true? While researching, I found there is no direct link between growth and coffee. While caffeine doesn't stunt growth, it can cause some other health complications in youth. I found a study done by the Mayo Clinic, which stated that "There isn’t any scientific medical evidence that coffee, in particular, or caffeine, in general, stunts growth." This proved that the claim coffee is stunts your growth is false. 

Comments

What study did you find? Please include source hyperlinks next time. Thanks!

Answer 6

The claim that coffee stunts your growth is false. Multiple sources I found, Harvard Medical School, Healthline, and WebMD, all corroborate that this claim is false and coffee/caffeine have no links to stunted growth. While caffeine can affect sleeplessness and that leads to problems with growth hormone production, caffeine itself does not lead to a shorter height or the lack of production of growth hormones. 

"There is no scientifically valid evidence to suggest that coffee can stunt a person's growth." (Harvard Medical School)

"The caffeine in coffee drinks has a stimulating effect on your body and mind. This means it increases your alertness, focus, and heart rate. When young people consume too much caffeine before bedtime, their sleep is affected. The effects of sleep deprivation have more to do with stunted growth than coffee itself." (WebMD)

"Coffee has long been associated with stunted growth in adolescents, but there is no evidence to support this." (Healthline)

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/can-coffee-really-stunt-your-growth#:~:text=Separating%20Truth%20from%20Fiction,associated%20with%20loss%20of%20height).

https://www.webmd.com/diet/does-coffee-stunt-your-growth

https://healthline.com/nutrition/does-coffee-stunt-growth