How does caffeine affect children? Researchers from Kings College London used data from nearly ten thousand children from nine to eleven in their study. It found those who consumed more beverages containing caffeine—usually soft drinks—reported sleeping less than average. Shorter sleep times resulted in slight differences in the developing brain. Caffeine is such a normal part of daily life it is easy to overlook the effect on children. In this study, differences in mood, attention and behavior were noticed with as little as one caffeinated beverage a week. Authors of the study in journal Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging caution it is hard to separate caffeine’s effect from the sugar content in soft drinks and other lifestyles.