{"id":534777,"date":"2010-04-19T20:18:25","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T00:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/green.yahoo.com\/blog\/guest_bloggers\/31\/eating-dirt-can-kids-build-healthy-immune-systems-through-dirt.html"},"modified":"2010-04-19T20:18:25","modified_gmt":"2010-04-20T00:18:25","slug":"eating-dirt-can-kids-build-healthy-immune-systems-through-dirt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/534777","title":{"rendered":"Eating dirt: Can kids build healthy immune systems through dirt?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\"child
\n
(Photo: Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When my child was a baby, I was about to feed my child a snack<\/a> and found myself scanning the immediate
\nenvironment for a bathroom or at least some running water to wash my
\nchild\u2019s hands. Upon witnessing my vigilance, one mother said something like, \u201cOh you are so good, aren\u2019t you?\u201d and she followed
\nthis up with a self-dismissal to the tune of, \u201cI just let my kids eat
\nall kinds of dirt and hope for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past several decades, parents have bent over backwards to
\nkeep their children clean and free of germs of all kinds. This endeavor
\nhas ranged from the sensible (frequent washing of hands) to the dubious (anti-bacterial everything in every form imaginable<\/a>)
\n and fueled an industry eager to feed your fears about everything from
\nyour garden-variety icky germs to virulent strains of flu viruses. <\/p>\n

The
\nmarketing of products to keep your family safe and germ-free has fueled
\n this fleeting fantasy of a hypersanitized childhood, free of the
\nplagues and pathogens that had befallen previous generations. It is a
\nnoble, but futile fight.<\/p>\n

Now comes news that these germ-free adolescents may be suffering from
\ntoo much of a good thing. Too much cleanliness can be a bad thing for a
\nyoung child\u2019s developing immune system, according to a recent article<\/a>
\n on Slate.com by Amanda Schaffer. <\/p>\n

The article goes on (backed by
\nmultiple recent scientific findings) to assert that early exposures to
\ngerms help teach a child\u2019s immune system to regulate itself and provide
\n much needed stimulation and training to insure future health and a
\nbolstered immunity.<\/p>\n

\n

Some of the evidence suggests that a small percentage of
\ngastrointestinal bugs and viruses, which may or may not cause illness,
\nmight protect a child later in life against allergies<\/a>, asthma, and skin inflammations like
\neczema (note: this sort of exposure does not work the same for
\nrespiratory illnesses and infections and may in fact increase the
\nlikelihood of future infections and complications). <\/p>\n

As mentioned in the
\narticle, hepatitis A, a virus transmitted by contaminated food and
\nwater, seems to bolster immune training, too: Kids with a certain common
\n gene variant who had been exposed to hepatitis A appeared to be less
\nlikely to suffer from a range of allergic disorders.<\/p>\n

This idea of bolstered immunity<\/a> through controlled and selective
\nexposure is not entirely new. Our vaccine and immunization regimen is
\nbased upon the idea that controlled exposure to dead or controlled
\npathogens will foster lifelong immunity to virulent diseases like polio, hepatitis, and measles. <\/p>\n

So what to do? Should we just take this
\ninformation with a grain of salt (or dirt) and keep on keeping on with
\nour anti-bacterial wipes and magic UV-sanitizing wands? Or should we
\nturn our babies out into the backyard with the worms, dirt, and trace
\namounts of fecal matter and hope for the best? <\/p>\n

Please share your
\nthoughts along with your personal experiences on the matter. Do you feel
\n safer in a world stocked with anti-bacterial wipes, or do you feel like
\nexposure to all the nasty bits provides the key to a healthy childhood? <\/p>\n

Eric Steinman is a
\nfreelance writer who contributes regularly to care2, where this post originally appeared.\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n
More from care2<\/strong><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n