What Could Be Causing Your Child's Headaches?

Headaches in children are common but usually nothing to worry about. In this article, you'll discover what could be causing your child's headaches.
What Could Be Causing Your Child's Headaches?

Last update: 29 November, 2019

Just like for adults, children can suffer different types of headaches, and they’re usually nothing to worry about. In this article, we’ll talk about what could be causing your child’s headaches.

Headaches can happen to everybody, even babies, so they’re a common issue for people of all ages. Certainly, ensuring your children live a healthy lifestyle can also help prevent headaches for them. A healthy lifestyle includes getting enough sleep, having an active life, and eating healthily.

Most headaches in children can be cured with painkillers. The exact cause of a headache isn’t a certain thing because, as you’ll see next, there are many causes.

Likewise, frequent headaches can cause problems at school, for example, or depression. Knowing the most common causes of headaches in children is a great help to fight this pain off.

A child's headaches can be caused by stress in school.

What could be causing your child’s headaches?

Some children can develop headaches often. Usually, this is nothing to worry about, as these headaches can be caused by minor illnesses.

1. Emotional factors

Stress and anxiety are some of the most common causes of headaches in children. Having trouble at school can stress your children out. These episodes of stress and anxiety can play a big role in headaches in children.

Everybody has been stressed to some degree, and children are no exception to this. If your child’s under a lot of pressure at school or home, maybe a divorce or a move, this can cause headaches.

2. An unbalanced diet

Skipping a meal, like breakfast, can give you a headache too. Make sure your child’s eating a well-balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables. It’s worth noting that too much caffeine and certain foods can give headaches to children.

A healthy diet can help ease your child's headaches.

3. Poor hydration

Not drinking enough liquids is one of the main causes of headaches in children. This is especially true in hot weather, where children spend more time outside and sweat more. If this is the case, just make sure they drink enough liquids, especially water.

4. Head trauma

As you might’ve guessed, bumps and bruises can give children a headache. Most head traumas are mild but seek medical care if your child hits his head hard. Likewise, let the pediatrician know if the headaches get worse after the head injury.

5. Pay attention to their brains

Last, but not least, sometimes there’s a slim chance that an issue in their brain, like a tumor, is causing their headaches. On rare occasions, a brain tumor or bleeding can put pressure on some areas of the brain, causing a chronic headache that gets worse with time.

Usually, brain issues have other symptoms, besides headaches, like visual problems, dizziness, or lack of coordination.

A child's headaches can happen at any age of development.

In conclusion, remember that headaches in children are normal and usually harmless. Children can have different types of symptoms, according to the headache they experience. A complete medical evaluation can bring light to the issue.


All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.


  • Castro, K., Rockett, F. C., Billo, M., Oliveira, G. T., Klein, L. S., Parizotti, C. S., … Perry, I. D. S. (2013). Estilo devida, calidad de vida, estado nutricional y dolor de cabeza en edad escolar. Nutricion Hospitalaria28(5), 1546–1551. https://doi.org/10.3305/nh.2013.28.5.6729


This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.