Coffee is among the most popular drinks in the United States of America, with over 100 million people drinking 1+ cup(s) per day. The effect caffeine has on consumers is widely controversial, and has been studied by scientists all over the world. Coffee has been said to have multiple types of healing powers, along with various dangers depending on the culture. The most outspoken concern about caffeine is whether or not it has a negative effect on a person’s growth pattern. “Coffee stunts your growth,” is the common belief that most people have about coffee. I was told growing up that if I drank coffee I would never be tall like my father, but it was all a lie. Old legends and wives tales about coffee have twisted the truth, and has led us to false information about coffees underlying affect on the youth’s growth.
Recent studies have been performed to measure the difference in bone density between teenagers who drink a lot of coffee, and those who don’t. 81 teenagers were tracked over the course of 6 years, and were studied to bring light to the, “stunt your growth” reputation caffeine has. The result was that there was no difference between the bone masses of those teenagers who drank a lot of coffee, and those who drank very little. This study leaves out those teenagers who don’t drink coffee at all, whose bone mass in theory could be the best out of all groups. These studies did however, find other health issues associated with coffee, including the large volume of sugar most people are adding to their cups of coffee in recent times. Some other issues found in coffee include Tannic acid, which stains teeth enamel, and dry mouth, which also causes tooth decay. The major issue with coffee revolves around its sugary partner. With only 35% of coffee drinkers drinking their coffee black, leaving 65% of people adding some form of sweetener to their drinks. This is a major factor in the obesity rate in the younger generation. For other cool facts about coffee, click here.
Coffee is not all bad though; it has been proven that coffee does have positive effects on the body as well. Frank Hu, the nutrition and epidemiology professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, claims “There is certainly much more good news than bad news, in terms of coffee and health…) It was once thought that coffee had negative effects on the cardiovascular system, but recent studies have proven this to be false, in fact the complete opposite. In Iowa, a Women’s Health Study observed 27,000 women who drank one to three cups of coffee each day over the course of 15 years, to determine the effect coffee has on the cardiovascular system in women. The result was that daily coffee drinkers actually reduced the chance of cardiovascular disease by 24 percent. Other benefits from coffee include reduced chance of Type 2 Diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Dementia. 
http://kidshealth.org/teen/expert/nutrition/coffee.html
http://www.statisticbrain.com/coffee-drinking-statistics
http://www.punchwine.com/5-most-popular-beverages-in-the-world
I have always found this topic particularly interesting since I have heard that saying ever since I was little. However, I have always wondered how caffeine plays a role in negatively affecting your body and why the emphasis has always been on why coffee is bad for you, but it has only been as of more recent times that people have started to look at soda and other caffeinated drinks as having negative health effects. For example, caffeine can cause major damage and issues for one’s oral health. An article in Livestrong’s online publication stated how “The Food Research Institute, creator of “Food Safety 1995,” reports that the amount of caffeine you consume can affect the health and appearance of your teeth.”(Ipatenco). These harmful effects can include the depletion of ones enamel on their teeth, which leaves “your teeth vulnerable to damage and disease, notes the Food Research Institute”(Ipatenco). Also, “large intakes of caffeine are associated with stress and an inability to sleep well, which can result in people clenching their teeth unconsciously while they are sleeping, thus creating either “jaw or teeth pain”(Ipatenco). Lastly, from a cosmetic stand point, since caffeine wears down your enamel, it leaves “the surface of your teeth” susceptible and open to stains from drink with a strong color or staining tendencies like tea or coffee.
Citation:
Ipatenco, Sara. “The Harmful Effects of Caffeine on Teeth.” LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 3 June 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
I love coffee! My parents always used to tell me, “don’t drink too much though, it will stunt your growth and your teeth will become yellow.” After reading your post, I learned that they are wrong. The correlation of drinking coffee and stunting growth is a myth. There are other health risks and benefits that people should be educated on before jumping to the conclusion that coffee does in fact stunt growth. I think, as you mentioned in your blog, a more serious health issue is that of the amount of sugar that people are putting into their coffee drinks to sweeten them up. The following article talks about why too much sugar is a serious problem: http://authoritynutrition.com/10-disturbing-reasons-why-sugar-is-bad/ Interesting post, thank you for sharing!!
Being the coffee crazed drinker I am, I was immediately drawn to your blog and the question you posed. I agree that this theory about coffee stunting growth does not seem like an accurate or plausible one. I liked how you mentioned the possible confounding variables such as how much sugar is added to the coffee. However, I don’t believe that it has any correlation to your overall subject of stunt growth, even though it is connected to other health risk problems. Since many studies have shown coffee does not in fact stunt one’s growth, I think that it would be interesting to learn about the things that actually DO affect one’s height. In an article I found, it mentions that there are a number of contributing factors, such as genes and environment. But most importantly, dies play a significant role in how tall a person will be when they become adults. There are certain foods, like milk and broccoli, that help ensure that kids reach their full growth potential while other foods might have a negative impact on growing children.
This is an interesting topic and I was excited to read your post. I have definitely heard multiple people say don’t drink coffee because it will stunt your growth. Not that I even liked coffee in the first place, but I definitely stayed away from it even more after hearing that. This post is very interesting but I wish you added a little more analysis of the study you found and added more of your own thought regarding it. Otherwise, I really liked your intro and the way in which you wrote this post. If coffee doesn’t stunt your growth, I wonder if there’s any food or drink that does. Maybe there is on out there that we don’t know of or we just haven’t noticed.
This was a large controversy in my home when I was a young teen. I was told ever since I was a child that coffee was going to stunt my growth. So there in lies the reason I never drank coffee until I was older. I did a blog post on a similar myth that seems to arise during many childhoods about mountain dew and hormone development in young boys. These myths seems to be so prevalent but this class a really proved to actually understand and find truth within them.
Although the consumption of caffeine might not stunt your growth, there are definitely negative consequences of drinking coffee. For one, drinking too much coffee throughout the day may lead to your inability to fall asleep at night. With a decrease in sleep comes many other health problems such as increase likely of accidents, slowed down cognitive processes, heart problems, depression, and problems with your immune system (http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss?page=2). In addition, consumption of too much caffeine may result in agitation, anxiety, shakiness, dizziness, upset stomachs, rapid heart rate, headaches, and dehydration (http://www.newportacademy.com/caffeine/).