Myths & Facts About Children’s Eye Health

Many parents grew up with medical adages or advice that have since been proven by scientists to be incorrect or outdated. Here are five common myths about children’s eye health and the medical reality behind them, prepared by the physicians at The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

Myth 33: Early Daycare Prevents Allergy & Asthma Later

New research hints that the common belief that kids who go to daycare have lower rates of asthma and allergy later in life might be nothing more than wishful thinking.

Myth 32: There’s Something Wrong With A Bedwetter

What about the child who, despite diligent night-training, continues to sleep right through the urge to use the bathroom. Is it his fault? Is it ours?

Myth 31: All Anesthetics During Birth Harm Babies’ Brains

No less a revered medical institution than the Mayo Clinic, the saviors of severely medically challenged children nationwide, have studied and declared that anesthetics used during cesarean births do not cause children to have brain problems.

Myth 30: Lots Of Milk Builds Strong Bones

For years, doctors and scientists have told the public to drink milk, eat dairy products and take calcium supplements to improve bone health and prevent osteoporosis. The problem is they’re wrong.

Myth 29: High Fructose Corn Syrup Is The Worst Of The Evils

Aside from the obvious nutritional benefits of ingesting natural sugars from their source , eating foods created from refined sugar of any kind seems to fall firmly within the jurisdiction of the epithet, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Myth 24: Breast is best

Are the actual benefits of breastfeeding so great that they trump all objections to the decision to breast feed? We’ve spent 30 years researching it and the Magic 8 Ball keeps turning up the same answer. “No. Ask again later.”

Myth 23: Breastfeeding prevents obesity

A longer period of breastfeeding was associated with lower BMI (a measure for weight) at one year of age. This relationship disappeared by the age of 7 years. Similarly, there was no significant difference in BMI at the age of 60 years associated with duration of breastfeeding.

Myth 22: People who use genetic testing want designer babies

A new study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center found a high desire for additional genetic testing among consumers for life altering and threatening medical conditions including mental retardation, blindness, deafness, cancer, heart disease, dwarfism and shortened lifespan from death by 5 years of age. Consumers, however, are less interested in prenatal genetic testing for traits including tall stature, superior athletic ability and superior intelligence.

Myth 20: Avoiding peanuts prevents allergy.

Note: This myth is not 100% busted, but the premise is starting to show its slip a little. Read on.
New research casts doubt on government health recommendations that infants and new mothers avoid eating peanuts to prevent development of food allergy.  The study, published in the November issue of The Journal of Allergy and [...]