Gullibility and the news

Rivka has a great and very educational post about the psychology behind over-rated fears.
While we are all prone to making these kinds of mistakes, sometimes I see people actively hurting themselves over-reacting to imagined fears. A co-worker of mine once told me that she doesn't let her nine-year-old daughter play outside because it's "so dangerous". A short time later, she complained that her daughter was getting chubby and she didn't know what to do about it. I had to refrain from saying, "Um, let her play outside." But in a way, she was putting her daughter in real danger (lifetime struggles with weight, potential for weight-related diseases) by protecting her from imagined dangers. Really, nine years old is old enough to know not to play in the street or get into cars with strangers.