Empty ice cream vans and stolen noses: The lies that parents tell their children

Studies show that most parents lie to their kids to make them behave

'The music means the ice cream van has run out...' (Geoff Moore/REX Shutterstock)

The music means the ice cream van has run out, the tooth fairy didn't have any change, I've got your nose: most of us remember the lies our parents told us when we were children, and now wonder why we believed them at all.

A new thread on the website Reddit has explored this topic, with users invited to recall the biggest lies that parents tell their kids.

Over 2,000 people responded to the question, in a thread that will likely jog fond memories from your childhood.

Here are some of our favourites:

Adulthood

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Encouragement

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Bed time

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Telling the truth

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

School

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Ice cream

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Noses

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Making faces

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Santa

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

Comment from discussion What is the biggest lie that parents tell their kids?.

The thread supports studies which show that many parents lie to their children.

A 2013 paper published in the 'Journal of Psychology' found that 84 per cent of US parents lied to their children in order to make them behave while 98 per cent did so in China.

Reseachers at the University of California San Diego interviewed 200 families in China and the US to compile their data.

The most common threat was telling childnre they would be left alone in public unless they were good, BBC News reported.