The Doctor's Office

Time to dispel some myths of child care

By BRUCE EPSTEIN M.D.

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 8, 2001

The dictionary defines a "myth" as an unfounded popular belief that has developed over the years. They are usually passed from generation to generation and persist until replaced by knowledge or facts. With this in mind, here are some common myths that continue to linger on in the folklore of parenting.

1. Feed a cold, starve a fever.

When your children are sick, they need calories to help their bodies fight the infection. Let them eat if they are hungry. Always encourage liquids, since both colds and fever can cause dehydration.

2. Cold or wet weather causes colds.

Only indirectly. Colds are infections of the upper respiratory tract caused by viruses. They are not caused by getting wet or cold. They are caused by exposure to the nasal secretions of other people who have colds. Getting wet or cold does not weaken the immune system to the point that it would cause a child to catch a cold. Colds are more frequent during cold or wet weather simply because children stay indoors, in closer contact with each other, at these times of year. This creates a breeding ground for viruses.

3. Thick yellow-green discharge from the nose during a cold is a bacterial infection and needs antibiotics.

This is not necessarily true. It can be the normal end stage of a cold running its course. Nasal discharge from a cold generally starts out clear and watery and can become more cloudy, thicker and finally turn green or yellow at the end of the cold. In an era of antibiotic overuse, it is important not to overtreat a green runny nose. Treatment should be considered for a green runny nose that does not clear after seven to 10 days, or if cold symptoms do not go away in 10 to 14 days.

4. Children get ear infections because they do not keep their ears covered.

Ear infections are not caused by lack of wearing a hat or getting water in your ear. Ear infections occur in a small area behind the eardrum called the middle ear cavity. This space is connected to the back of the throat by a small tube called the eustachian tube. When a child is congested, either because of a cold or allergy, the Eustachian tube doesn't work properly, and fluid builds up in the middle ear space. This fluid acts as excellent culture medium for bacteria, which cause a middle ear infection.

5. High fever causes brain damage.

Fever itself is not likely to cause brain damage. This myth got started because one cause of fever, meningitis (an infection of the brain and spinal cord lining), often results in brain damage.

6. Sugar causes hyperactivity.

It certainly would be nice if this were true. We could then treat hyperactivity with special sugar-reduced diets instead of medication. Repeated research published in medical journals, however, tends to disprove this theory. These studies find no discernible difference in behavior between children who are eating sugary foods and those who are not. This myth probably started as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Parents believe that sugar affects behavior. Children ingest higher amounts of sugar during exciting events such as holidays and parties, and therefore it is common for adults to blame a child's behavior changes on increased sugar intake. More than 100 research studies all reveal little if any effect of sugar on children. Nor does sugar cause attention deficit hyperactive disorder.

7. Standing will bow a baby's legs. This myth originated years ago when children suffered from rickets, a vitamin deficiency that caused softening of the bones and bowing of the legs. Today, rickets has all but disappeared, and there is no danger that standing will bow your baby's legs. The legs of most babies are already bowed at birth from being wrapped tightly around their bodies inside their mother's womb. It takes years for them to straighten out, but allowing a baby to "stand" on her legs does not cause the bowing.

8. Children must eat their vegetables.

Vitamin deficiencies are extremely rare, and it's unlikely that children will harm themselves by not eating vegetables. It is important to serve well-rounded meals, but you don't have to fight daily battles about eating all the vegetables. In fact, perhaps if parents did not make an issue of eating vegetables, kids would be more inclined to try them.

9. Mothers who are breast-feeding should not eat garlic, onions or chocolate.

It used to be believed that eating highly flavored foods while breast-feeding made an infant more fussy and caused gas and upset stomach. Simply not true. In fact, a study that monitored the eating habits of nursing mothers showed babies seemed to prefer milk when their mothers ate garlic; they nursed for longer periods of time and gained more weight.

10. Iron-fortified formulas cause constipation.

No studies have found a difference in the number of stools per day, type of stool, the number of days without stools, or the frequency of colic, spitting up or vomiting between infants fed regular formula and those fed iron-supplemented formula. Babies need the iron.

NEXT TIME: More common parenting myths

Bruce A. Epstein practiced pediatrics in St. Petersburg for 26 years. He edits the Web site kidsgrowth.com.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.