What if restaurants didn't serve hungry kids a double adult dose of caffeine?

45 pound kid with near empty stomach, in many restaurants, is given a 20oz caffeine-laden soda ASAP. They bring drinks first. This is like serving an adult 7 to 8 cups of coffee in a 10 minute period. It should be no surprise that some kids "can't sit still and be quiet" in restaurants. They serve them enough caffeine to turn them into Scarface Jr. then scold them because they can't handle the drugs in the soda.

Perhaps more restaurants should consider caffeine-free beverages for kids. Before banning them, before blaming and shaming them, how about stop drugging them? There are caffeine-free version of most major soft drinks.

said NO???????

Don't blame the restaurant for serving what is ordered. As far as I know, no restaurant gives away soft drinks automatically. Someone has to ask for them and pay for them.

Put the focus on the actual cause of the problem, please.

I don't see what is wrong with offering caffeine free options.

juices are also among the choices in most dining establishments.

caffeine-free beverages available. Never. Perhaps you have. I don't know. Mom or Dad is ordering. It's up to them, don't you think?

customers as possible then they should consider every option that they control. Not saying caffeine is the whole problem but it doesn't help.

patrons. I've never been in a restaurant that didn't have caffeine-free beverages. It is not the restaurant who decides what the patron will consume. It is the patron. Why is that so hard to understand?

I haven't been to a restaurant in my life that didn't offer water or SOME OTHER caffeine-fee option such as milk or juice or 7-Up/Sprite.

IT'S THE PARENT'S FAULT. PERIOD.

My son (11yo) wanted to order his own meals on our vacation this year, some were still off of the kids menus. We were away 2 wks and ate out fairly often (a meal out every other or every 2 days). He started out ordering the usual kids menu - fried chicken strips or shrimp with french fries and sweet tea. By the end of our vacation, he was still ordering fried chicken or popcorn shrimp, but with milk or water and whatever steamed vegetable of the day they had. It finally dawned on him that he felt like crap every evening he ate the fried/sweet laden meals. I let him figure it out himself because he would just fuss when I tried to steer him in the right direction. I would still have rather that he chose a broiled or baked main item, but they are hard to come by in smaller sizes. A couple of places he actually ordered a side of veggies and an appetizer for as his meal.

Sure a parent can say, "no" and deal with the hissy fit. Or they could just order caffeine free if it is offered.

What is the point of not offering decaffeinated soda? Do the restaurants make extra money somehow if they don't offer it?

pink lemonade in the beverage dispenser. Then, there is milk, water, and juice available as well. They don't offer Coke Free. You're correct, or at least most don't, but there are many choices that are caffeine-free.

Usually lemonade as well.

If the menu lists the caffeine content of sodas fewer parents would order the ones with high content. Most know that Coke and Pepsi have caffeine, but what about Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew? Both have more caffeine than the former.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2007/09/05/caffeine-soda.html

Root beer in general has no caffeine but at least one brand does: Barq.

many (yes) whine about. firstly.

second, i have never bought into the sugar causes bad behavior with my own kids and felt that was mostly hype. my kids never got to use that for poor behavior. maybe too much sugar at a bday party equalled upset stomach and i would get protein into them, but never hyperactivity.

lastly, a parenting issue. my kids never were allowed to drink down soda before their meal. they could take two, three drinks then had to put to the side until food arrives. and we have never allowed the automatic refill so many restaurants do now a days.

as good as you are/were with your kids these days.

Even in the BAR AREAS of restaurants these days it's all but impossible to escape the children running around the tables, walking up to random adults they don't know (why oh why is it always me?) and demanding attention, screaming, crying, jumping on the booth behind you.......

I love watching kids play and scream and jump and play tag in appropriate places but every eating establishment does not have to be Chuckee-fucking-Cheese. I have no problem with some establishments choosing to enact age requirements.

to me it is a non issue. about 15 yrs of hitting restaurants with kids. older and younger. was always a treat. a big deal. excitement. we walked in, sat down and worked on our pleases, and thank yous. independence ordering meal, speaking up and out to be heard and not shy. manners. chatted, family time.

ate.

left

feeling good for our experiences.

i never walked out of the restaurant thinking

oh lord, my kid interferred with another enjoying their meal.

their children. They only bring a drink that is asked for.
As far as we're concerned, we only order water..the drinks are outrageously priced anymore at a restaurant.

I agree with another poster, I never bought into the "sugar makes the hyperactive" either. It is an excuse for bad behavior and out of control children. My 4 all got soda and some candy..limited because of their teeth..and weren't hyper. On the other hand, they played outside a lot and used up the energy they had instead of being inside most of the time.

For instance, my kids can tolerate caffeine and rarely ever get it. And I was never the type of parent that bought into the whole sugar makes a kid hyper premise either, especially not with my first who could eat anything with no change in demeanor. But give my kids chocolate milk and 3 out of my 4 kids go apeshit crazy. When their grandparents (my parents) took them camping, they couldn't figure out what was wrong with one of them. They don't particularly believe in sugar=hyperactivity, but my mom called me asking if there was anything that would cause my daughter to act that way. She talked non-stop, almost manic, the whole way to the campsite, then once she was there, she RAN in circles for a few *hours*. I asked my parents if they fed her any chocolate and of course, they had - a double whammy of chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream. The change in my kids with chocolate is really stunning - it's like they are on a drug. My oldest never had this problem. I'd have never believed it if it wasn't so darn obvious!

At any rate, we avoid chocolate milk if we are going anywhere. This is a HUGE reason why I support getting chocolate or flavoured milks out of schools. I bet kids would just plain behave better without them. We also avoid anything chocolate any later than early afternoon. I can see how some kids could act up in a restaurant because of caffeinated beverages but I think it's more a function of being bored and/or hungry. Bring tons of activities and maybe a snack, and they should be fine.

and lowering the caffeine should help.

We've all seen a family w/kids at a serve yourself fountain at a restaurant and for sit down types, parents can just say no to beverage refills. If the kid blows through their drink, refill with water.

Right? :shrug:

with the equivalent kick of sugar.

Ans sugar IS a carbohydrate.

Sorry, but your post is devoid of meaning.
GAC

HFCS is derived from corn.

May have similar effects on elevated blood sugar, but they are still two different products.

They're all sugars.
GAC

Is this really a problem?

It's the restaurants. They just automatically hand the kids a free soft drink as soon as they come in the door. Parents don't have to order it and pay for it. Oh...wait...

It's just another attempt to blame restaurants for the choices made by their patrons. It's getting old.

unless the kids are 28 years old and long haul truckers.

Coke, Pepsi, Sprite or Mountain Dew -- take your choice (unless your choice is caffeine free). They don't call it a "Happy Meal" for nothing.

Again, put the blame where it belongs. Every restaurant has caffeine-free options for beverage orders. Parents may order whatever they choose. Restaurants will serve what is ordered. At fast food restaurants, patrons select their own beverages from a dispenser. I see the parents standing there pushing the buttons to fill their children's drink cups. They are making a conscious choice.

Restaurants offer the items. Patrons select or order what they want. What are you not understanding about that? Seriously.

The same thing is true with fatty foods. Parents order them, too. How hard is it to say to the person at the counter, "I'll have a happy meal, but with apple slices, not fries?" That is an option at ever McDonalds. Similar options exist at other restaurants. Parents decide what their children eat, not the restaurant. The blame for feeding children unhealthy food lies with the parents, and with the parents alone.

what children eat and drink on the parents, we put it on the restaurant. When did we abandon making decisions for our children, I wonder?

gosh.

there MUST be a simple solution in there somewhere.............

:shrug:

Got Milk?

This lies soley on the parents.

(Not sure if that's a colloquialism but it means I just said the same thing...)

Apparently, every single parent who posts on DU has the well-behaved kids. Luckily, the people with the bratty kids post on the other sites. Lawd, it's a miracle!

Moreover, every single person on DU was well-behaved in public as a child, down to and including ages around 18 months, which they remember with clarity, because their mother was so strong and taught them such good manners in public. Praise be!

Indeed, not only are or were their own children near perfect in their public behavior, but their grandchildren are as well (which stands to reason, since every single DUer raised his or her own child correctly), and so are the nieces and nephews and everybody related.

If only it weren't for the non-DU posting parents, who invariably let their children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, second cousins twice removed and other run like wild dogs in restaurants, we wouldn't even be having this conversation!

Gawd, I wish all kids could be as well behaved as the kids of DUers, and I'm glad that DUers are always so happy to tell us how awesome and well-behaved their own children are, or were, and how absolutely fucking amazing they are as parents!

:rofl:

And if we were ill mannered in any way, the family left immediately.

My father was a stickler for wanting to enjoy his meal in peace while out.

Common sense & good parenting goes along way.

Sorry.

Our parents didn't feel the need to drag us everywhere with them all of the time. They were adults and did their own things independent of us a lot of the time. If we went to a restaurant or a movie or anywhere else in public it was a special occasion. And if we acted up, we were extricated, taken home and punished and it was a long time before we got the privilege of going out with them again.

:rofl:

'Zactly...

No parent is guaranteed a fine dining experience when they take their kids along. One has to be prepared to go outside and walk, talk, read a book if necessary, until the moment passes. It is a parenting problem not a kid problem.

I've noticed that as well. I will admit that in general my children are well-behaved, there has been a few times where we had issues. After my ex-husband and I split my then-7 year old was having a really rough time and started throwing tantrums in public. Like the kind you would see with a 2 year old. There were times when I simply couldn't just take her out of the situation - she was too big to carry and refused to be dragged out of the store. Threats of having priviledges taken away didn't help. And, as a single parent, I had to get groceries because there was no one else to do it. I could see she was having serious problems so I got her in to a highly recommended child psychologist and between that, and working with her school (where she's a perfect angel with perfect marks, go figure) she's doing so much better now! But I remember those sideways glances and the judging and so forth. It was awful. I know I'm not a horrible parent, nor am I a permissive parent. My little girl was just having a hard time dealing with her dad suddenly leaving her life. So, think of stuff like that next time you see a 'brat' in public. You have no idea what is going on in that child's life. My brother used to act up in public because he knew my dad couldn't beat him in public - so I also don't believe in the 'the kid just needs a good swat' theory either. We dealt with my daughter's problems with NO hitting/spanking whatsoever. It just takes a lot of work. Hitting didn't help my brother behave in public - I think it made him worse.

I will also admit I was one of those insufferable 'my kids never misbehave' before the issue with my 7 year old. While it's true I was actually told by numerous people how awesome my kids were, I was smug in thinking they would ALWAYS be that way. Never did I imagine an upheaval in their lives could change something so basic as their public behavior.

So anyway - not every single parent on DU ;)

I don't think I've ever been to a restaurant that didn't have milk on the menu. Nor one that didn't serve water.

Restaurants serve children what their parents order.

the adult in charge of those kids allows it. Also, the restaurant is not responsible for teaching those same kids manners and how to behave in restaurants and other public places.

Perhaps more parents should consider the choices they make for their kids and how they let them behave. A restaurant is in the business of selling a product, not child rearing.

they bring it to us. I don't understand what the problem is.

When my kids were little, they drank juice or lemonade. They're in their late teens now, and still don't drink soda. They order lemonade or water when we eat in a restaurant.

It's up to the parents, not the restaurant.

bringing them into a restaurant. Secondly, they are generally not allowed to have pop unless we are out so it is a rare treat because we rarely go out to eat. I hold myself to that rule most of the time as well. So unless we are at a restaurant or family stuff we don't generally have pop. and they are limited to one. So as their cousins at family functions drink and drink they look at me and pout as i say they can only have one. and they aren't allowed to even have any until they are five. my middle child snuck it back before i switched to only drinking it myself when i was out. I don't have it in the house anymore. But she would drink mine. She had four cavities in her mouth by the time she was five. not sure if the pop was the reason, but i don't care... emily never had the cavities... and she never had pop til she was five. but i digress...

I can see why the sugar and caffeine could contribute to kids having trouble sitting still at a restaurant. But generally, there are other contributing factors involved here. I find if my kids are tired when we go in, they are more prone to act up in the restaurant. I have learned to be extra sensitive since my oldest has been prone to meltdowns most of her life and that can be quite embarrassing. She is a lot better now at the age of 12.

Tiredness mixed with caffeine and sugar can be combustible. But the most important thing is knowing your kid. Most parents know their children and can tell these things. And I don't think they would blame the restaurant for giving their kid pop being the reason for their kid acting up. Personally, I wouldn't mind if I ever got a day out without my kids having the ability to go to a place without kids to relax.

And I wouldn't blame a restaurant for wanting to have an establishment that doesn't allow kids either. They are not assuming all kids are heathens. As a parent, I kind of like the idea of a place I could escape to sometimes. I am sure I could never afford to go there anyway, but it would be nice to imagine it.

If there's a dispute over using the Mayo Clinic's figures, you can use a different one if you like.

Using this webpage,

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211

I assumed the soda with the highest caffeine content, Vault, and calculated for 20 oz. instead of 12 oz., obtaining 118 mg caffeine.

On this webpage,

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211

a generic, 8 oz. cup of coffee has 95-200 mg caffeine.

I conclude that the strongest soda in a 20 oz. vessel - a 'fortified' concoction that is rarely available in franchised fast-food establishments, has slightly more caffeine than an 8 oz. cup of the weakest generic coffee. A caffeine content closer to the middle of the 95-200 mg range is a reasonable assumption, so I consider it more likely that a 20 oz. soda has less caffeine than a single 8 oz. cup of coffee.

Regardless of these findings, however, I still consider soda a foul substance for anyone, but especially children, due to the sugar, caffeine & phosphoric acid (tooth erosion) - not to mention all the other crap added for good measure. I'm a stickler for accuracy, and I'd hate for a soda-industry apologist to score points by picking apart the details of a faulty argument.

45 lbs versus 180 or so.

And managed their children better in other ways also?

I don't "blame and shame" the children, I "blame and shame" the idiot parents who make things like child bans necessary.

Who's doing the ordering? I don't know of any restaurant anywhere that brings you soda without it being ordered. Additionally, most restaurants carry plenty of other drinks.

The restaurant isn't giving the kid anything the parent didn't order. How about we place the blame where it belongs?

I don't think even Jolt is that powerful. Maybe Monster or Red Bull, but what restaurant has those?

So, lets just go with it.

The server doesn't simply come up and plunk down drinks, you have to order them. Where are the parents in this?

Second of all, the normal selection of soda drinks in a restaurant doesn't have the same amount of caffeine as 7 to 8 cups of coffee, not even Mt. Dew. At most, on a cup for cup basis, 8oz's, soda has about half as much caffeine as coffee, unless you're drinking really weak ass coffee.

Generic coffee has an average 133 mg. caffeine per 8 ounce cup
Pepsi and Coke have 38 and 35 mg. caffeine respectively per 12 ounce serving (that is 63 mg and 58 mg respectively per 20 ounce serving)
Even the caffeine-rich Jolt cola and mountain dew have no more than 72 mg per 12 ounce serving.

source: caffeine content http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

Now my math might be rusty, but somehow I don't see how 133 x 7 (or 8) equaling 63 mg.
Rather 7 cups of brewed coffee is nearly 14 times greater than that 20 ounce soda.


That said, I detest that we give kids cola or other soft drinks--and it isn't because of the caffeine. But, it is the parents ordering it. That said, I have yet to see the small kids who become cranky or unruly actually DRINK a 20 ounce soda. A few sips maybe.

So, I think another theory might be in order.

Bookmarked.

more rocket science...

Milk, apple & tomato juice, Sprite & 7up are all caffeine free.

You can't blame the restaurant for the parent's decisions.

that's what we always did and our kids behaved just fine.

Something secreted by animal tits on an industrial scale for consumption by an unrelated species is a fairly nasty concept.

The kids at my house get water or occasionally juice for regular consumption. Soda is a treat, rarely given and much enjoyed.

Maybe the server can say, "Oh I'm sorry sir/ma'am, we think your child will go ape shit if it sucks down a 20oz caffeine-laden soda, so in good conscience, we won't serve them that."

Or maybe post a sign on their door, "We will not serve caffeine to kids"


That restaurant will be out of business before you can finish saying lawsuit.

automatically give the kid caffeine free coke?

I don't have kids, but I get it... that as a parent or aunt in this case, it should be ME telling the staff... please bring water (I have done that) to my nephews. It is not the staff's choice.

that's all. Choice still applies, parental responsibility still applies. Just take out some caffeine from the equation and see if it helps.

The only automatically served beverage I've ever seen is water and too often you have to ask for that now. At no time have I seen a child force fed soda or just given soda.

Also, I drank my fill and then some and it was not an excuse to act like a heathen and would not have been tolerated. I'd be wishing my ass was in a boot camp somewhere.

making it normal and natural for kids to hydrate with water, as well.

A: It would still be inappropriate for the child to be in a dining venue catering to adults, regardless.

But I do think parents need to be educated about giving their kids caffeine beverages and too many sweets. I don't think parents realize what they are doing to their kids and themselves when they feed them those kinds of beverages and treats.

:-)

Olive Garden, AppleBees, Cigarettes, breastfeeding, circumcision, narwhals, pit bulls, smoking bans, Spitzer, High school bands and soda pop

kids on planes drinking caffeine, bombing the moon, tax fast food, Rapture, PETA, screaming kids in restaurants

Vaccinations, Jessie James, Ipads, Michael Vicks, Octomom, unicorns and Charlie Sheen, now the Weiner's gone.





:hi: