Issues arise when young people drink excessive caffeine or use caffeine for the wrong reasons
I can pinpoint the precise moment my coffee habit started. In my mid-teens, while doing work experience, I would head out to the local coffee shop to do the office tea run and bring what I thought looked like a grown up and sophisticated cappuccino back to my desk. It quickly became a habit and I never looked back. Now in my twenties, I’ve switched to black Americanos and flat whites and drink around three a day.
I’ve always focused on the positives of caffeine – it makes me feel more alert and productive – and meeting in coffee shops is one of my favourite ways to socialise. But could developing a taste for thrice-daily flat whites in my teens have done more harm than good?