A new study suggests that the impact of caffeine varies between boys and girls after hitting puberty.

It is widely known that caffeine acts as a stimulant that may provide health benefits but it may also cause harm to the body, especially to growing children.

The study, "Cardiovascular Responses to Caffeine by Gender and Pubertal Stage" published on the Pediatrics website, wanted "to test the hypotheses that gender differences in cardiovascular responses to caffeine emerge after puberty and that cardiovascular responses to caffeine differ across the phases of the menstrual cycle."

Researchers examined and analyzed the heart rates and blood pressure of 101 children (about half were aged eight to nine while the other group is composed of 15 to 17-year-old children), after being given controlled doses of caffeine. After the test, they concluded that caffeine affects males' hearts more so than girls.

"All of the children in the study showed a decrease in heart rate and an increase in blood pressure after consuming caffeine," Jennifer L. Temple, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo and lead author of the study, told Livescience.com. "After puberty, however, caffeine was found to affect boys and girls differently, with boys having a greater response to caffeine than girls."

It was also found that the responses of girls to caffeine vary depending on the phase of their menstrual cycle. It noted that the decrease in heart rate was greater during midfollicular phase while blood pressure increases were more notable in the midluteal phase of the menstrual cycle.

While a reason for the reaction has not been established yet, it's possible that the reaction could be attributed to hormones or various physiological factors. Livescience.com also noted that this is the first study of its type and further research would need to be undertaken to further review a possible link between cardiovascular response and physiological factors with regards to teen caffeine consumption.

Caffeinated drinks are very popular among the youth and comsumption has been increasing over the years. The findings were alarming since the caffeine amounts given to the children had low doses, about 1 and 2 mg/kg and it already yielded negative results.

According to a report from WebMD, Temple said, "Although our data do not suggest that this level of caffeine is particularly harmful, there is likely no benefit to giving kids caffeine, and the potential negative effects on sleep should be considered when deciding which beverages to give to kids." 

Parents need to monitor and educate their children on the negative effects of drinking too much caffeinated beverages. Too much caffeine in the system may lead to to medical issues that affect sleep patterns, the heart and the overall energy level.