I remember growing up as a kid, the people older than me would always drink coffee throughout their day because they said it would wake them up and help them focus throughout their day. I remember this one day at around grade 7 where I could not fall asleep during the night and I had to wake up early the next day for school so when I woke up I could barely open my eyes, so I had asked my mom for a cup of coffee. My mom had responded to me saying I was too young and her exact words were “it will stunt your growth”. From that day on I had never really believed her but at the same time, for whatever reason I never did my research to prove her wrong so I just listened to her. With that being said now that I am older, it doesn’t really matter anymore; although, with this assignment I would love to finally prove my mom wrong. With that being said, does coffee stunt your growth, or even better does caffeine stunt your growth? The answer is no, coffee does not stunt your growth; although, coffee does contain caffeine, which stimulates the central nervous system. For most people up to two cups of coffee a day doesn’t do any harm, but if you’re drinking more, especially if you are getting caffeine from other sources, like soda or energy drinks, you may want to cut back. This is because high doses of caffeine can cause anxiety and dizziness which can cause you to not be able to fall asleep which then can stunt your growth, if you are not getting enough hours of sleep. There is also a misconception that coffee causes osteoporosis (a condition that may be associated with loss of height), but blaming coffee for height loss due to osteoporosis is false for two reasons. First, coffee does not cause osteoporosis and second osteoporosis does not routinely make you short. With everything here said, the first thing I am doing when I go home is showing my mom this post and proving to her that she was wrong all this time.

Gavin, M. L. (Ed.). (2013, February). Does Coffee Stunt Your Growth? Retrieved October 19, 2017, from http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/coffee.html

Publishing, H. H. (2015, July). Can Coffee Really Stunt Your Growth? Retrieved October 19, 2017, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/can-coffee-really-stunt-your-growth