Good news for those of us whose housekeeping skills are, perhaps, a little less than sparkling – accumulating evidence suggests that eating a little dirt is actually good for kids. And that annoying tendency of babies to put every little thing in their mouths may actually be an instinctual attempt to build up their immune systems.
As someone who hates housecleaning more than anything else in the world, pretty much, I love the “hygiene hypothesis.” This holds that our hyper-clean, germophobic society may actually explain why autoimmune diseases, allergies and asthma have all been on the rise in recent years.
The theory is that kids who live in super-clean environments don’t have sufficient opportunity to build up their immune systems. The human body harbors something like 90 trillion microbes, some of which are actually good for us, and not getting exposed to those can cause immune over-response.
No one is suggesting that outright dirty and foul conditions are acceptable, but simple handwashing after diaper changes, bathroom breaks and before and after handling food would go a long way to stop pathogens, while running around with antibacterial hand sanitizers and wipes can actually be harmful.
Skip this next bit if you are eating: intestinal worms are actually considered key to the development of a healthy immune system. The human whipworm has shown promise as a treatment for multiple sclerosis, and pig whipworms as a treatment for Crohn’s disease.
Given that I spend huge amounts of every day fishing God knows what out of my almost one-year-old son’s mouth, this is the kind of thing that makes me feel much, much better.
