\nClorox wipes letter<\/a> on my mind, I was intrigued to read the following
\nheadline in today’s Wall Street Journal: Can
\nDirt Do a Little Good?<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The story talks about the new film Babies<\/a>, a Focus feature following the On a small family farm in Mongolia, <\/p>\n By contrast, Mari, growing up in <\/p>\n Statistically, Mari and Hattie are <\/p>\n Yet the upscale urban infants are at Obviously, we in the developed world <\/p>\n But during the regular flu season Many Excuse me while I go after the grape I dropped at lunch.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Scientists link ADHD in kids to routine pesticide exposure<\/a><\/p>\n Ask Umbra on pasta, Clorox wipes, and a satisfied customer<\/a><\/p>\n New report from Childhood Obesity Task Force has something for everyone<\/a><\/p>\n
\nfirst year of life for four babies living in Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo, and San
\nFrancisco, and the varying standards of hygiene in these kids’ lives. The flick
\ndoesn’t even mention hygiene, per se, but it brings up an interesting question,
\nas posed by the WSJ piece and seemingly enforced by the reader question about
\novercleaning in yesterday’s column: Are we too clean?<\/p>\n
\na rooster struts around little Bayar’s bed, a goat drinks from his bathwater
\nand livestock serve as babysitters.<\/p>\n
\nhigh-rise, high-tech Tokyo, and Hattie, whose doting parents live a
\n“green” lifestyle in San Francisco, both have modern conveniences and
\nsanitation.<\/p>\n
\nhealthier. Some 42 out of 1,000 children in Namibia, and 41 out of 1,000 in
\nMongolia die before their 5th birthday; compared with only 8 in 1,000 in the
\nU.S. and only 4 in Japan.<\/p>\n
\nhigher risk for some health problems—including allergies, asthma and autoimmune
\ndiseases like Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel
\ndisease—than the babies in the rural developing world.<\/p>\n
\nget the way better deal—allergies instead of a far-too-early demise—but is our
\nobsession with cleanliness (Clorox wipes, hand sanitizers, antibacterial soap,
\netc.) what’s causing an increase in allergies and autoimmune diseases? This
\narticle raises some compelling questions.<\/p>\n
\n(or the swine flu craze of ‘09\/‘10), you’d be hard pressed to find someone
\nwithout hand sanitizer at the ready or sneezing into their elbows like the CDC
\ntaught us. And with good reason, as these illnesses are highly contagious.
\nHowever, I think we may have taken our anal-retentive nature too far.<\/p>\n
\nexperts advise common sense. “We don’t want to say to children, ‘OK, play
\nby the dirty river bank and catch whatever you can,’” says Dr. [Joel]
\nWeinstock, [chief of gastroenterology\/heptology at Tufts Medical Center in
\nBoston]. “But we can say there’s nothing wrong with kids playing in the
\ndirt. They don’t have to live in total sanitation, and they won’t die from
\neating something off the floor. It’s probably more healthy than not.”<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/pixel.quantserve.com\/pixel\/p-8bUhLiluj0fAw.gif?labels=pub.29804.rss.News.18590,cat.News.rss\"\/)
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"