A study, published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice, warns parents of using teaspoons or any household cutlery when giving their children medications.

The U.S. and Greek researchers from the Alfa Institute of Biomedical Sciences in Athens worked collaboratively on this study testing the effect of the spoon size on the dosage of medications. The study showed that the inaccurate size of teaspoons would put the children at the risk of under or overdoses. The inadequate treatment would lead to further complications that can be avoided easily provided a parent or a carer used the calibrated spoons or cups associated with the medicine or provided he followed the pharmacist instructions to use the suitable syringes.

The study depended on investigating the sizes and types of 71 teaspoons located in 25 different houses in Greece. It revealed that the spoon capacities varied widely that the dose taken by the larger spoon would represent
192% more than the dose granted by the smaller one.

A spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain stated, "People collecting NHS prescription medicines for children will be supplied with either a spoon or syringe to allow an accurate dose to be given”.