THURSDAY, Oct. 22, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Could just one caffeinated drink a week make a difference in your child's brain development?
"Caffeine is such a normal part of daily life that it's easy to forget young people are consuming it too," said senior author Divyangana Rakesh, of King's College London. "Studies have found that two-thirds of adolescents consume caffeine at least once a week. Despite it being a psychoactive substance, it is completely unregulated."
For this study, researchers looked at more than 9,600 children ages 9 to 11, examining caffeine use, sleep and MRI brain scans.
Most of their caffeine came from soft drinks, but also coffee and tea.
Children who consumed more of the stimulant slept less and had slightly less surface area across the brain's outer layer — a region involved in attention, decision-making and emotions.
Researchers think shorter sleep may partly explain those brain differences, which appeared with as little as one caffeinated drink a week.
Adolescents who consumed more caffeine also reported more mental health symptoms involving attention, mood and behavior.
"Our results do suggest that both caffeine intake, including from soft drinks, and sleep are worth paying attention to when we think about young people's mental health," Rakesh said.
But the study doesn't prove cause and effect. Researchers say sugar and other lifestyle factors could also play a role.
The study was recently published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.
More information
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has more on caffeine and children.
SOURCE: HealthDay TV, Oct. 22, 2026
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