My mom did tell me these things and of course I passed them along to our son. Well now we get the facts....perhaps, you know how things keep changing????
This is a fun post from
https://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-myths-from-mom-true-or-false.html

8 Myths From Mom: True or False?

By Danielle Samaniego, Divine Caroline
As a kid, my mom warned me about things like sitting too close to
the TV, going outside with a wet head, and not letting my food digest
before swimming. She even convinced me that eating Pop Rocks and
drinking soda at the same time would cause my stomach to explode. While
I can attest to the fact that Pop Rocks and soda do not, in fact, cause
any bodily damage (other than a fun party-in-your-mouth effect), what
about those other kernels of motherly advice? Is there any truth to
them or were they all just scare tactics?
1. If you don’t wait an hour after eating before you go into the water, you’ll get stomach cramps and drown: False
The idea behind this is that when your blood rushes to your stomach to
help you digest food, you wouldn’t have enough circulation to keep your
arms and legs working properly. The tale likely gained popularity in
the 1950s and 1960s, when kids enjoyed local pools and lakes with far
less lifeguard supervision than we have now. As a result, parents
conjured up a way to keep kids at bay after lunchtime while they got
some rest in. But according to HowStuffWorks, we have plenty of blood
to keep all of our other parts running just fine after a meal. Some
competitive swimmers even eat something immediately before a big meet
to give them the energy they need to perform well. Also, during
exercise, our bodies produce adrenaline that actually helps deliver
oxygen to the muscles that need it most.
2. Don’t sit too close to the television or you’ll go blind: False
Though you might walk away with a serious headache, you won’t lose your
sight sitting too close to the tube. You can suffer from eye fatigue,
however, just as you might after reading under dim lighting. There’s
also the faint possibility that you might develop photosensitive
seizures from certain flashing images. (Think videogames, parents!)
Let’s not forget the Pokemon incident of 1997, when several hundred
kids in Japan suffered such seizures during one of the children’s
cartoon episodes. Better to be safe than sorry, say experts, so sitting
back at least four to five feet is recommended.
3. Don’t crack your knuckles or you’ll get arthritis: False
This is one of those warnings you might wish was true, if only to stop
people from doing it. But according to WebMD, there is no evidence that
cracking your knuckles–caused when the bones are pulled apart to form a
gas bubble and break the adhesive seal in the joint–inflames the joints
and leads to arthritis.
About a quarter of the people in the United States engage in
knuckle-cracking, which can cause reduced grip strength or weaken the
fingers. So while it doesn’t cause arthritis, it’s not the healthiest
habit either.
4. Drinking coffee will stunt your growth: False
I totally bought into this as a kid, but research shows that I can only
blame genetics for my short stature. Caffeine had been considered an
osteoporosis risk factor for years, but a New York Times article
reports that the Creighton University study linking consumption to
reduced bone mass was inaccurate; the study had been conducted on
elderly people with low calcium diets in general. Yet another study
conducted on eighty-one adolescents over a six-year period also failed
to prove the theory. But before you give your child that coffee over an herbal tea, remember: caffeine is still a strong stimulant.
5. Don’t pee in the pool or it’ll turn red and expose your mess: False
But urine in water can cause irritations like red, puffy eyes or an
itchy throat or cough. When swimmers sweat or urinate in pool water,
the bodily fluids combine with the chlorine and create chemical
compounds known as chloramines, according to the CDC. So you might be
able to relieve yourself without getting busted, but please –don’t.
6. It takes seven years for gum to leave your digestive system after you swallow it: False
This urban legend’s roots are hard to pinpoint, but Snopes found that
the “warning” likely stems from gum being labeled “indigestible.” It
may not break down in the digestion process, but gum will definitely
pass out of your system as quickly as everything else.
7. Don’t go outside with wet hair or you’ll get sick: False
This is the kind of forewarning that will prevent you from being
uncomfortable more than becoming ill. According to Dr. Rob Danoff of
MSN’s Health and Fitness Web page, the only thing that can make us sick
is exposure to a virus, plain and simple. The most common way to catch a cold is by inhaling airborne viral particles released by the cough or sneeze
of an infected person. Danoff also suggests not touching your eyes,
nose, or mouth with unwashed fingers that may have come into contact
with a virus.
8. Eating sugar/candy/food before bed will give you nightmares: True!
It may have sounded like an excuse to rob us of dessert as children,
but there is some truth to it. Studies have shown that going to bed on
a full stomach can stimulate brain waves, which trigger nightmares.
Epicurious.com cited another study which implied that unhealthy foods
produce even scarier nightmares. And an article in the Journal of the
Mind and Body focused on a ten-person study conducted in 2000, where
people were fed ice cream, sandwiches, and candy bars thirty minutes
before going to bed; seven of the participants had nightmares while
sleeping. After the study, the nightmares dramatically subsided for
four of the participants. Just goes to show you that mom wasn’t always
feeding you baloney!
So, what have we learned? Most of those little nuggets of Mom-wisdom
have been debunked, but that doesn’t mean they don’t offer any value to
children. It may not remain in your system for seven years, but is
swallowing gum really the best idea? And why does a kid need coffee in
the first place? They’re embellishments, yes, but in the end, mom was
just trying to do right by us
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