BUSTED: The six health myths used to scare children.

I grew up in a large family that loved freaking us kids out every now and then.

I clearly remember my aunts and uncles convincing me that eating tomato seeds would result in a plant growing in my stomach, and telling me that coffee tasted like fizzy drink and watching as I spluttered it out.

Now, my parenting philosophy is the complete opposite. I prefer to comfort my kids. And so whenever they repeat scary old wives’ tales that they have heard from school, family or friends, we look up the facts together and feel instantly better.

Here are six myths I’ve busted over the years – and six less things for mums (and kids) to stop worrying about immediately.

1. Going out in the cold with wet hair will instantly cause illness.

My mum was big on this and when I became a mum I used to be too. I used to chase my kids around the house trying to towel dry their hair.

It got to a point where they started crying as soon as I washed their hair, so I just stopped trying to dry their hair quickly every single time. Guess what happened? They didn’t get sick more often. Funny that.

To check I was doing the right thing, I did a little research and found that experts at the BBC agree that leaving kids with wet hair won’t cause illness, saying, “Overall the studies have been inconclusive.”

Like all things to do with kids, it’s about common sense. Damp hair in mild weather is harmless. Drenched hair in the dead of winter, not so harmless.

Good enough for me.

2. Picking your nose often means you have worms.

Some kids are born with their fingers stuck up their noses. I watch my son and I don’t think he even realises he’s doing it. Is it just me or is teaching kids how to blow their noses really, really hard?

There are parents who tell their kids that picking their noses means they have worms, or that if they put their fingers up their noses they may find them stuck up there. Neither is true and eventually your children will discover that.

Ronald McCoy from the Royal Australian College of GPs says nose picking certainly doesn’t equal worms, saying the eggs need to be ingested. He says, “Threadworms are spread by children scratching their bottom and carrying the worm eggs back to their mouth with their hands. They can also be spread indirectly, in food, dust, or other articles.”

Sometimes there aren’t even any symptoms to show kids have worms, so it might be a good idea to keep some chocolate squares handy.

Eventually, one of your kids might get them. And that’s ok.

3. Swallowed gum will live in your stomach for years.

I didn’t let my kids try chewing gum until they were six and knew not to swallow it, but I never threatened them with that old wives’ tale about gum staying in your stomach for seven years if it was swallowed. Our bodies work a bit better than that.

Michael F. Picco MD told the Mayo Clinic, “If you swallow gum, it’s true that your body can’t digest it. But the gum doesn’t stay in your stomach. It moves relatively intact through your digestive system and is excreted in your stool.”

Just explain to your kids that gum contains rubber so it will never be broken down like other foods, but it will come out eventually, if you know what I mean…

4. Using more than one device at a time will scramble your brain.

Gosh, I hate it when my son gets on the computer to play Minecraft and then tries to watch a Minecraft video on YouTube on his iPad at the same time. “Stop it,” I normally say. “You’ll scramble your brain.” I assume he knows enough to know that my warning of potential brain-scrambling isn’t exactly based on scientific fact, but he does give up his iPad most of the time.

I tried to look up a legitimate threat I could use instead and found some studies that confirmed that excessive game-playing could alter your brain — but won’t exactly scramble it. Children’s technology and brain researcher Dr Kristy Goodwin says technology is here to stay and can even benefit kids.

Damn.

Maybe I’ll just say he can’t use them both at the same time and when he says, “Why Mum?” I’ll just say, “Because I said so.” That’ll work.

5. You can’t swim straight after you’ve eaten.

Looking back at the one hundred million times my mum said this to me, I’m thinking that she was just using this to stall having to drive us to the pool. “We have to wait at least an hour because you just ate,” she’d say allllll the time.

I’m pretty sure it was also an excuse to avoid buying us junk food at the pool canteen — I tell my kids the same thing for exactly the same reason.

But they’ll soon find out that this is completely unfounded. Because doctors at Duke Medicine say that while swimming immediately after eating isn’t the best idea due to general discomfort, it won’t cause major health issues. In fact, they say the biggest danger related to eating and swimming is probably just a minor cramp.

6. Carrots will improve your eyesight and spinach will make you strong.

Vegetables are good for us, however carrots and spinach have been elevated to magical status with parents telling children that carrots will improve their eyesight and spinach will make them strong.

Remember that cartoon Popeye? I blame that for the spinach myth. Carrots, well it is true that they contain lots of vitamin A which is thought to improve overall eye health but my mum used to just tell me to eat a carrot “just like Bugs Bunny” and that usually did the trick.

Lizette Borreli wrote for Medical Daily: “Great sources of vitamin A include carrots, spinach, mangoes, milk, cheese, rockmelon, and peas. Remember, plenty of vitamin A won’t drastically improve your vision, but it will lead to better eye health.”

So eat them, but don’t freak out about not eating enough of them.

Six health myths busted. Phew.

What old wives’ tales have you successfully debunked?

For a little bit of fun, here are some of the most notable mums from TV/Movie Land: