Can you tell the difference between some candies and medicines, Auntie? A study conducted by two seventh-grade students says that only 78 percent of teachers can tell and only 71 percent of kindergarten students can. Casey Gittelman and Eleanor Bishop, the girls who conducted the study, tested 30 teachers and 30 students at their school in Cincinnati.

Many of the students in the study couldn’t read, and therefore did not perform as well as  students that could read. The most commonly mistaken candies were M&Ms for Coricidin (a cold medicine), SweeTARTS for Mylanta and Tums (medicines to settle the stomach), and Reese’s Pieces for Sine-off (a sinus and cold medicine). Test subjects were given a mixture of 20 candies and medicines to try to differentiate.

A majority of the subjects, both teachers and students, said that medicines in their homes were not locked away or out of reach of young children. Aunties should note that the most commonly confused medicines were those that were circular and similar in shape and sheen to common candies.

Gittelman and Bishop said that they hope to begin a movement of developing medications that are more easily distinguishable, as well as to educate families about the safe storage of medicines in order to prevent accidental ingestion. So, Aunties, make sure your medications are safely out of reach of your young nieces and nephews in order to keep them safe.


Published: October 19, 2011