Health
Childhood medical myths debunked as experts weigh in on 5 common warnings
Mothers might know best, but it’s not always easy to separate fact from fiction when it comes to health advice.
A new report from University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Health has broken down several common wellness myths that children often hear while growing up.
Fox News Digital spoke with experts who revealed the truth behind common medical misconceptions.
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Here are five.
Myth 1. Ginger ale relieves stomach aches
While actual ginger can help ease a stomach ache, most commercial ginger ales don’t actually contain the real thing, Michelle Jaelin, a registered dietitian practicing in Ontario, Canada, told Fox News Digital.
A new report from University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Health reveals the truth about several common wellness myths that children often hear while growing up. (iStock)
This childhood myth persists as parents give ginger ale to children because it’s sweet and bubbly, she said.
“It makes parents feel better that they are doing something for their child when they aren’t feeling well, and the myth persisted as a drink that helps a stomach ache,” Jaelin said.
The carbonated beverages could actually make the stomach pain even worse by increasing gas in the digestive tract, according to Healthline’s website.
Chicken soup has been viewed as a popular cold remedy since at least the 12th century, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). (iStock)
Drinks with real ginger also tend to contain excess added sugar, experts said – essentially the equivalent of soda that may worsen stomach pain.
Myth 2. Gum stays in your stomach for seven years
“Swallowed gum does not stay in your stomach for [seven] years, as the myths suggest,” Su-Nui Escobar, a registered dietitian based in Miami, Florida, told Fox News Digital.
“While swallowing gum is not recommended, if you do so accidentally, you will likely pass it like any other indigestible food.”
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The gum will pass through the stomach within two hours and be excreted in the stool after approximately two to five days, just like other foods, according to the recent UCSF report.
Although chewing gum can stick to many surfaces — including walls or desks — it travels mostly intact through the gastrointestinal tract without sticking to the intestinal walls, the report notes.
“Swallowed gum does not stay in your stomach for [seven] years, as the myths suggest,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
But experts still caution against children swallowing gum, because substantial amounts might cause an intestinal blockage, Escobar warned.
This is a particular concern among children who have underlying constipation, according to Mayo Clinic’s website.
“If you suspect a blockage, seek immediate medical attention,” Escobar advised.
Myth 3. You shouldn’t swim for 30 minutes after eating
As summer kicks into high gear, there is good news for any swimmer itching to get in the water after lunch. Yes, it is usually OK to swim right after you eat.
The myth that you shouldn’t swim immediately after eating stems from a theoretical concern that blood flow will be diverted away from the arms and legs to help digest food, potentially leading to an increased risk of drowning.
“Based on current research, eating before swimming is not affiliated with a risk of drowning, and can be dismissed as a myth.”
But a comprehensive American Red Cross scientific review on the effects of eating before swimming showed no effect on performance in the water after a meal.
“A recent literature review did not provide any information related to an increased risk of drowning due to consuming food before swimming,” Jodi Jensen, PhD, member of the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council in Virginia, told Fox News Digital.
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“There is no supporting evidence from a major medical or safety organization that recommends refraining from eating before engaging in aquatic activities such as swimming,” added Jensen, who is also an assistant professor and aquatics director at Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia.
“There is no supporting evidence from a major medical or safety organization that recommends refraining from eating before engaging in aquatic activities such as swimming,” an expert told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Based on current research, eating before swimming is not affiliated with a risk of drowning, and can be dismissed as a myth.”
Although study participants experienced “minimal” side effects at different time intervals after eating, some outside experts do recommend waiting a bit after a meal if you plan to swim laps or compete to avoid any stomach cramping or digestive issues.
Myth 4. Chicken soup cures a cold
Chicken soup has been viewed as a popular cold remedy since at least the 12th century, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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“Chicken soup is warm and comforting when you’re sick, but it’s not a cure,” Jaelin told Fox News Digital.
“Chicken soup is warm and comforting when you’re sick, but it’s not a cure.”
“Drinking any hot broth when your sinuses are stuffed can help to clear them out.”
The steam from the chicken broth may relieve a sore throat and congested sinuses, the NIH noted.
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When battling a cold, get plenty of clear fluids to help regulate body temperature and promote improved immune system function, said Jaelin.
“Chicken soup counts toward overall fluid intake,” she added.
It also helps prevent dehydration and clear out mucus, the NIH noted.
Myth 5. You will ruin your eyes if you sit too close to the TV
Sitting too close to the TV will not damage your eyes, though it may cause eye strain, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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To prevent eye strain while watching television, experts recommend keeping the room well-lit and taking occasional breaks from the screen.
Sitting too close to the television will not damage your eyes, but may cause eye strain, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology. (iStock)
“Children can focus at very close distances better than adults, and may not develop the same eye strain symptoms,” Nishika Reddy, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology at Moran Eye Center’s Midvalley Health Center at University of Utah in Murray, Utah, told Fox News Digital.
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It may be a red flag, though, if children are watching television too closely, experts warned.
The behavior may indicate an underlying vision issue that should be addressed, the UCSF report noted.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says high-quality digital media can be introduced to children between 18 and 24 months of age (only when supervised by parents or caregivers). The academy also recommends limiting screen time to one hour a day for children ages 2 to 5. (iStock)
“See an eye care provider to perform an eye exam for your child,” Reddy recommended.
A more concerning issue is the indirect effect of too much screen time, according to the report.
Although experts say there is no one-size-fits-all guideline when it comes to children and screen time, the American Academy of Pediatrics says high-quality digital media can be introduced to children between 18 and 24 months of age (only when supervised by parents or caregivers).
The academy also recommends limiting screen time to one hour a day for children ages 2 to 5.
Fox News Digital reached out to UCSF for additional comment about its new study.
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Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of older age, is becoming a crisis for younger adults. New research shows one group getting hit the hardest – those without a college degree.
A recent study from the American Cancer Society analyzed data from over 101,000 adults aged 25 to 49 who died from colorectal cancer between 1994 and 2023.
While death rates remained stable for college graduates, they climbed significantly for those without a bachelor’s degree, the findings showed.
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For young adults with a high school education or less, the mortality rate rose from 4.0 to 5.2 per 100,000 people, while the rate for those with at least a bachelor’s degree stayed flat, at approximately 2.7 per 100,000.
This does not mean that a degree offers some kind of biological protection, researchers cautioned.
Colorectal cancer, once considered a disease of older age, is becoming a crisis for younger adults. (iStock)
The difference is likely driven by the conditions in which people live and work, which often correlate with education levels, the researchers noted.
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The study suggests that the higher death rates are likely driven by differences in the prevalence of risk factors, including obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and diet, which are “known to be elevated among children and young adults with lower [socioeconomic status].”
Because the study relied on death certificates, researchers couldn’t say exactly why college graduates had better outcomes.
Because the researchers didn’t have the patients’ actual medical records, they couldn’t see things like frequency of screenings or treatment options, which would impact survival outcomes. (iStock)
Certificates typically list the cause of death, age, race and education level, but they do not include a person’s full medical history.
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Because the researchers didn’t have the patients’ actual medical records, they couldn’t see things like frequency of screenings or treatment options, which would impact survival outcomes.
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Colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death for men under 50 and the second leading cause for women in the same age group, according to recent statistics.
While colorectal cancer death rates remained stable for college graduates, they climbed significantly for those without a bachelor’s degree, the findings showed. (iStock)
Because the disease is highly treatable when caught early, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) lowered the recommended screening age from 50 to 45 in 2021.
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Common signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer can include a change in bowel habits, such as diarrhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool, that lasts for more than a few days, according to the American Cancer Society.
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Other signs that warrant seeing a doctor include blood in the stool or a persistent feeling of needing to go to the bathroom but being unable to go.
The research was published in JAMA Oncology.
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A young woman who started vaping at the age of 15 has been given just 18 months to live — after being diagnosed with lung cancer in her early 20s.
Kayley Boda, 22, of Manchester, in the United Kingdom, was engaging in heavy vaping on a regular basis when she started coughing up a brown substance with “grainy bits” in it in January 2025, news agency SWNS reported.
The retail assistant said doctors turned her away eight times, telling her she had a chest infection — until she began coughing up blood.
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After seven biopsies, Boda was diagnosed with lung cancer. She underwent surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy — and in February 2026, got the all-clear, the same source reported.
Two months later, though, doctors said the cancer had come back in the pleural lining. Now she’s been given 18 months to live.
Kayley Boda, 22, is shown in the hospital. She started coughing up a brown substance with “grainy bits” in January 2025, she said. She had been vaping since the age of 15. (SWNS)
The young woman has now issued a warning to others to be aware of the dangers of vaping.
Boda said she smoked a bit as a young teenager. She took up vaping after that.
Then, “a few months after I switched from reusable vapes to disposable ones, I started coughing up brown, grainy mucus,” as SWNS reported.
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“Doctors turned me away eight times with a chest infection. … Then I started coughing up blood, so they did an X-ray and found a shadow on my lung,” she added.
“They told me they were 99% sure, [since I was] so young, that it wasn’t cancer, so not to worry about it. When I got the results back, and they told me it was lung cancer, it felt so surreal.”
Boda said she was “very naive” before her diagnosis and thought that “something like this would never happen to me.”
She said that she had surgery to remove half of her right lung.
“After the surgery, I started chemo and I had a terrible reaction to it. I couldn’t lift my head up. I was throwing up blood. I was urinating blood. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep.”
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She said that when she got the “all clear [in Feb. 2026], it felt amazing, but just two months later I was told the cancer had come back, and I have 18 months to live.”
She added, “I’m 22. This isn’t meant to happen to somebody my age.”
“Stay off the vapes because they will catch up with you.”
She blames her cancer on vaping, she said.
“My symptoms started a few months after I started disposable vapes, and there’s no lung cancer in my family,” she said. “I haven’t vaped for three months, I’ve made my partner stop, I’ve made my mom stop, I’m urging all my friends to stop. Stay off the vapes,” she continued, “because they will catch up with you.”
When doctors did an X-ray, they found a shadow on Boda’s right lung. She was later diagnosed with lung cancer and has undergone surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy. (SWNS)
She said she’d been using reusable vapes since the age of 15 and began using disposable vapes a few months before her cancer symptoms started.
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In November 2024, when she developed a rash all over her body, doctors said it could have been due to shingles, chicken pox or scabies, she told SWNS.
‘Nothing worked’
“I got treated for all three, and nothing worked,” Boda said. “It got to the point where I was cutting myself from scratching so hard.”
A few months after that, she began coughing up a dark brown mucus, with “grainy bits, the consistency of sugar, in it,” she said. When the coughing continued, she visited the doctor’s office, but was told it could be scarring from pneumonia or a chest infection, she also said.
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It wasn’t until March 2025 that she began coughing up bright red blood. At that point, doctors gave her a chest X-ray and told her they’d found a shadow on her lower right lung.
Over the next four months, she had seven biopsies as doctors took samples from the “shadow.” In August, when she went to get the results, she was told she had stage one lung cancer.
Boda is shown in the hospital. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, as well as chemotherapy. (SWNS)
In September 2025, she had surgery to remove the lower lobe of her right lung, and the surrounding lymph nodes. During the surgery, doctors upstaged her cancer from stage one to stage three after finding cancer in six surrounding lymph nodes, she said.
Following the surgery, Boda was unable to breathe properly and had to learn to walk all over again.
“The oncologist said this is so rare.”
After finishing chemotherapy in February 2026, Kayley was given the all clear, leaving her feeling elated.
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However, just a month after that, she began experiencing extreme chest pains and was told by doctors she had a pleural effusion — a build-up of fluid in the lungs. She had the fluid removed, but when doctors tested it, they discovered her cancer had returned to the pleural lining of her lungs, giving her 18 months to live.
“The oncologist said this is so rare, and usually something they see in patients that are 80 years old,” she said, as SWNS reported.
Increasingly, vacation hot spots are enforcing strict bans on the use of e-cigarettes in public venues. (iStock)
Boda claimed that doctors were unable to pin her cancer to a specific cause — but told her that smoking and vaping definitely didn’t help.
Since her diagnosis, she has stopped and is urging others to stop, too.
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She’s hoping to raise the thousands of dollars needed for treatment to try to prolong her life, she said.
Last year, Fox News Digital reported on the case of a Pennsylvania woman, 26, who said she vaped for just one year before her lungs collapsed. She was 22 when she took up the habit, she said in an interview.
“Everybody warned me about it, but I didn’t listen — I wish that I did,” she said.
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Dr. David Campbell, clinical director and program director at Recover Together Bend in Oregon, told Fox News Digital at that time that signs of collapsed lungs include sharp chest or shoulder pain, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing.
Lung issues are just one of the many health issues linked to vaping, he warned. The habit can also increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, as well as exposure to harmful heavy metals.
Melissa Rudy of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.
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The key to feeling better in a fast, overstimulated world might be surprisingly simple: Live a little more like your grandparents.
A growing social media trend, dubbed “nonnamaxxing,” draws inspiration from the slower, more intentional rhythms associated with an Italian grandmother.
The lifestyle is often linked to activities like preparing home-cooked meals, spending time outdoors and making meaningful connections.
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“Nonnamaxxing is a 2026 trend that embraces the slower, more intentional lifestyle of an Italian grandmother (a Nonna). Think cooking from scratch, long family meals, daily walks, gardening and less screen time,” Erin Palinski-Wade, a New Jersey-based registered dietitian, told Fox News Digital.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
Stepping away from screens and toward real-world interaction can have measurable benefits, according to California-based psychotherapist Laurie Singer.
“We know that interacting with others in person, rather than spending time on screens, significantly improves mental health,” she told Fox News Digital, adding that social media often fuels comparison and lowers self-esteem.
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Living more like previous generations isn’t purely driven by nostalgia. Cooking meals from scratch, for example, has been linked to better nutrition and more mindful eating patterns.
Adopting traditional mealtime habits can improve diet quality and support both physical and mental health, especially when meals are shared regularly with others, Palinski-Wade noted.
One longevity expert stresses that staying healthy isn’t just about food — it’s also about joy and community. (iStock)
There’s also a psychological benefit to slowing down and focusing on one task at a time. Anxiety often stems from unfinished or avoided tasks, Singer noted, and engaging in hands-on activities can counteract that.
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“Nonnamaxxing encourages us to be present around a task, like gardening, baking or knitting, or just taking a mindful walk, that delivers something ‘real,’” she said.
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Palinski-Wade cautions against turning the trend into another source of pressure, noting that a traditional “nonna” lifestyle often assumes a different pace of life.
The key, she said, is adapting the mindset, not replicating it perfectly.
Nonnamaxxing, derived from the name for an Italian grandmother, is a trend that incorporates lifestyle habits hundreds of years in the making. (iStock)
The goal is to reintroduce small, intentional moments that make you feel better.
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That might mean prioritizing a few shared meals each week, taking a walk without your phone or setting aside time for a simple hobby, the expert recommended.
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Singer added, “Having a positive place to escape to, through whatever activities speak to us and make us happy, isn’t generational – it’s human.”
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