Don't Try To Give Coffee To The Toddlers, As A Result, It Is Hazardous

JAKARTA - The viral video on Tiktok, a baby who is given sachet milk coffee by his mother, worries netizens. The mother thinks that milk coffee has actually milk content, compared to a strong and sweet one.

In response to this, the Head of the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) Hasto Wardoyo asked every parent not to try to provide foreign food such as coffee to toddlers because of the bad effects. "I think giving tea or coffee to toddlers is a separate trick. Children are not for trial. Don't ever try it on children, don't try it either," said Hasto Wardoyo, quoted from ANTARA, Thursday, January 26.

Hasto emphasized that coffee contains caffeine that can prevent adults from falling asleep. While other sweet drinks such as tea, tend to contain a lot of teofilin substances.

"If given to toddlers and babies, this content can be really dangerous because it has effects that interfere with the absorption of micronutrients, iron and vitamins from each food consumed by children. Moreover, it is feared that sweet tastes will make children addicted," he said.

Hasto reminded toddlers that it is not an object to conduct trials when parents are new to learn something such as providing good nutritional intake for children.

He also asked any party who is not an expert in their field to stop providing misleading examples or education through social media platforms.

He assessed that as long as a thing does not have a recommendation from an expert and there is no clear evidence, it cannot be proven true and is not good to be given in care.

"It has to be done with knowledge and for those who are not experts, please don't spread wrong education. We, those who are experts, like not to have the courage to speak," he said. Separately, Professors of Food and Nutrition from the Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) Prof. Dr. Ir Ali Khomsan, MS. also did not advise children, especially under the age of five (toddlers) to be introduced to coffee because their digestion was developing and was not sufficiently familiar with the food that should have been eaten.

"Children drink milk, it's clear that the best and most nutritious. Drink coffee later," said Prof. Ali at the event "National Nutrition Day: The Importance of Balanced Nutritions in Day-to-Day Life" with Nest Kalimantan Indonesia in Jakarta, Wednesday.

This condition is contrary to the belief in the community that provides coffee to children to avoid getting hot. Sometimes, children are also given one to two drops of coffee which are actually just to show customs or culture. But again, Prof. Ali did not recommend this action.

He said coffee contains antioxidants and is a diuretic nature which is said to be able to get rid of rocks in the body, but must be accompanied by water intake. When someone becomes a teenager, they are invited to drink coffee. However, there is a risk of increasing blood pressure for a moment in someone who consumes coffee.

"So, if children become addicted to drinking coffee, it is possible that their blood pressure will increase gradually until adulthood, suddenly they will become hypertension sufferers," he said, suggesting hypertension patients should stay away from coffee.

Prof. Ali added, like three money with coffee, herbs should also not be introduced to toddlers, considering that there is no research that has tested certain herbs in children. This condition, he said, is often a reference for someone to say that children should not be introduced to herbs.

But then the question is whether the little kids need to drink coffee or not. Here, the short answer may not be.

Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) as broadcast by Healthline said children and babies should try not to drink drinks that contain caffeine. The academy in 2018 concluded caffeine has no place in children's food.

Caffeine may make a person feel more alert, fresh so ready to handle a long list of tasks. However, the baby's body cannot handle it easily, and a smaller amount can affect its function. The baby may react to caffeine by acting restlessly, anxiously to even experiencing symptoms such as collics.