Dirt is good for kids
Here’s news to make every parent breathe a sign of relief: scientists say children should get dirty. Most parents have experienced that moment of horror when little Aiden or Emma skips hands first into a puddle of unidentifiable gunk, but it turns out that messy playtime can help prevent inflammation.
Experts blame hygiene hysteria (where parents douse their children in Lysol and Purell) for the significant uptick in inflammatory skin diseases and allergies. Parent groups and researchers have teamed up to encourage parents to back away from the sanitizer and let kids be kids.
Health news you can use.
Comments (3)
Isn't it be better to consume a small percentage of bad germs to let the body work it's natural fighting/reproducing of cells magic?...so that, if and when we consume larger quantities of the bad stuff we're able to fight them off and NOT GET SICK!
As for sanitizers. I have to question...if they're strong enough to kill 99.9999 or whatever percent of bad germs, then surely they're killing good germs too. no?
I'm no doctor and don't get me wrong, I don't think it's bad to wash your hands....but I do think precautions can be taken too far to the point we're doing more harm than good.
I'm sure there are other variables as well, but as a kid I was always playing in the dirt and hardly ever had even a cold....If I ever have children they will have my full permission to get messy...dirt isn't the enemy.
One interesting note - there is a bacteria that has been shown to cause/enable tooth-decay. You usually get it from your parents kissing you or sharing eating utensils with you as a baby. It was shown, (sorry don't have the reference handy) that children who do not get this passed to them for various reasons, rarely have cavities! So, now what about those kids in the future? Are you still going to kiss them and risk all of those future dental bills?
Leave a comment...