Health Update: Diabetes risk

CHILDREN should be discouraged from drinking coffee and tea, since both increase their risk of developing insulin- dependent diabetes. A study in Finland of 600 newly diagnosed diabetic children under the age of 15 found that more than two cups of coffee daily doubled the risk of the disease, while two cups of tea increased the risk even more. The authors suggest in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition that the increased risk may be related to caffeine metabolism.