“Take your jacket or you’ll catch a cold!”, “Don’t read with the lights off! It will hurt your eyes!” and so many other myths have been passed from parent to child for generations. Though some may hold a bit of truth, they mostly were just tactics to scare you into wearing your jacket or not staying up past your bedtime. Now, these myths are debunked for all of the world (or Air Academy) to know.

1. If you drink coffee, it will stunt your growth.

Many experiments have been done to see if growth rates are affected by the consumption of coffee. According to Psychopharmacology, the only change that the body actually makes is a small decrease in the calcium levels [1]. Calcium is a large player in the growth of bones. However, the body quickly compensates for this lack of calcium by disposing of less in a 24 hour time frame.  Bone growth and development is not affected and therefore doesn’t stunt growth. Parents often will use this myth just to make their child stop asking to drink coffee. Caffeine, a main component found in coffee, is a stimulant, so when children drink it they often become restless and “jump off the walls.” As a result, parents will look for any way to avoid allowing their child to have coffee.

2. If you swallow your gum it stays in your stomach for seven years.

The seven years of gum digestion is yet another myth that has been circulating for years. If this was true, then almost every person would still have gum turning inside of his or her stomach. Gross! Pediatric gastroenterologist David Milov stated that “with complete certainty, gum does not stay in you for seven years “ [2]. Once swallowed, three of four parts of it are digested: the sugars, flavoring, and the softeners. Only the synthetic part, the component that makes gum chewy, is left. When the body recognizes that there is no other part of the gum that can be used, the synthetic remains are “dumped” from the system. This process takes the same time as normal digestion. Therefore, gum, once swallowed, is disposed of over the time of a day to a few days and does not remain in the stomach for seven years.

3. Cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis.

4. If you read in the dark it will damage your vision.

Finding ways to stay up past bedtime as a child is a goal of children everywhere. One main way that kids do this is by staying up and reading at night. When caught by parents, they are told, “If you keep reading in the dark you’ll damage your eyes!” However, reading in the dark has only been proven to cause strain to your eyes. According to healthpsych.org, “Your eye muscles will ache, much as your arm muscles and leg muscles become sore after strenuous exercise” [4]. One may experience headaches, sore eyes, dry eyes, or neck aches from the strain on the eyes that is experienced when trying to read in the dark, but the effects are not permanent.

5. You need to wear a jacket or you will catch a cold.

This is one of the most common myths of all. This myth holds a bit of merit, but not in the way you’d thinks. A cold is caused when a person catches the Rhinovirus. This virus is common because it is the base to each forms of the common cold. However, the virus is not caught by a person going outside. Actually, according to health.com, “You are just as likely to catch a cold when inside as you are when outside, if not more so” [5]. The bit of truth that comes from this is that when your body gets cold, it is less able to properly fight off illnesses. Being outside without a jacket for too long can increase the likeliness of the cold you already have, becoming a nasty cold rather than a normal one. Overall though, you can’t actually catch a cold just because you didn’t wear your jacket.

Bibliography:

1. P. Quinlan, J. Lane and L. Aspinall, Effects of hot tea, coffee and water ingestion on physiological responses and mood: the role of caffeine, water and beverage type. Psychopharmacology, 134 (1997).

2. Matson, John. “Fact or Fiction?: Chewing Gum Takes Seven Years to Digest.” Scientific American Global RSS. Scientific American, 11 Oct. 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

3. Derrer, David T. “Does Joint Cracking (Popping) Cause Arthritis?” WebMD. WebMD, 29 Dec. 2013. Web. 18 Feb. 2014

4. Kittle, Jody. “Health Psychology Home Page.” Reading in Low-Light Settings Will Damage Your Vision. Health Psychology, 24 Oct. 2008. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

5. “You’ll Get Sick If Don’t Wear a Coat.” – Most Common Myths About the Common Cold. Health Magazine, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.