Scientists say: Dirt can be good for kids
Categories: Development
Scientists are advising parents that a bit of dirt can be good for children.The US team of scientists discovered that being 'too clean' can lead to the skin having problems with healing.
Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when a child gets hurt. The bugs can reduce the body's natural overactive immune system, which can make cuts and grazes to swell.
The findings further back the theory of 'hygiene hypothesis', where the exposure to germs early on in life can actually lead to the body being better prepared for allergies.
With the steady increase of allergies in the UK and other countries, it would seem that our obsession with keeping everything 100% clean is having a negative effect on the health of our children. Allergy rates have tripled in this decade alone, with one in three people now having an allergy of some form.
The bacteria found on most bodies who do not over-clean are considered to be 'good' bacteria. Staphylococci are the bacteria that aid the body in healing the skin.
The scientists looked at mice and human cells, and discovered that the harmless bacteria did this by making a molecule called lipoteichoic acid (LTA), which acted on keratinocytes - the main cell types found in the outer layer of the skin.
The LTA keeps the keratinocytes in line, halting them from creating an aggressive inflammatory response.
What do you think of the findings? Are you very conscious of keeping everything very clean, or do you prefer to let your kid get a little messy?
Source BBC
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
S Sims 11-23-2009 @ 10:02AM
Wow - just about what my parents knew seventy years ago; maybe not the mechanics of it but certainly the effects. Did no one ever think to look into why the mucky kids were mostly well while the shiny ones caught every bug going? I seriously thought this was common knowledge!
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Stevie 12-01-2009 @ 10:58PM
I work in the hygiene trade! I know people that use antibacterial this and antibacterial that, They catch every bug going. They only have to look at dirt and they are ill! I grew up playing in rivers and all kinds of dirty places, I used to come home head to toe in muck as a kid, and to this day I never catch anything. Hardly even the cold. Too much cleanliness can weaken us. I let my kids be kids and get as dirty as they like. Funnily enough, they never get ill. Be clean but don't go over the top.
robertpbloom 12-02-2009 @ 6:11AM
Are you kidding me! Is this news or common sense? I cannot believe it has taken researchers this long to conclude that exposure to less harmful bacteria will boost body’s defences. Is there nothing more important for these scientists to do? I dunno, like cure cancer or something!
jaydee 11-23-2009 @ 10:23AM
The old saying everyone eats a peck of dirt before they die springs to mind.
I seem to remember something about research that was using bacterial injections for helping with asthma. Again our over clean bodies not helping our imune sytems to be primed as they should be.
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Dr Barrie Bullimore 12-02-2009 @ 7:33AM
i thought everyone knew that "you've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die"
aj 11-23-2009 @ 10:41AM
I am a nurse and have endorsed this idea for years. My daughter was always allowed to get dirty when playing but cleaned up before eating, she's missed a total of 3 days sick off school in her life, she's 16 now. As my mum always said a little bit of dirt did you no harm. By being super clean and constantly using antibacterial products, bacteria will develop resistance as proven in our hosptals. I personally wash my hands constantly but use good old soap and water.
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graykandy 11-23-2009 @ 11:02AM
I have three boys and keeping them clean is impossible!! they love using their hands to dig and pick!! getting them to wash can also be a challenge! a soak in the bath at the end of the day is murder in our house. However they have no allergies, rarely get colds etc. but i remember friends who were constantly holding wet wipes in their hands and following their kids around everywhere. their children were always ill and had allergies. I strongly believe that letting our childrens bodies use their natural defenses to build immunity to the world helps them combat illnesses in the future.
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Peter MacKinnon 11-23-2009 @ 11:20AM
Nae kiddin, they'd have been paid thousands for the bleeding obvious.I cannot remember anyone at my primary school, with asthma,never mind nut allergies,whatever the hell that is.All this lot and many others have stemmed from over protective parents and faddy, knit your own rusks types.My mates and I went home at nights covered in sh1t. None of us have ever been in hospital or been "no very weel" apart from the usual measles,chickenpox etc.It's these kids I feel so sorry for,I would not swap my childhood of freedom for all the techie toys in the world.Sorry but we've gotten what we've deserved.Keeping kids wrapped in sterilised cotton wool Is NOT doing them any good.
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A.Firefighter, Scotland 11-26-2009 @ 12:21PM
well well well, I totally agree with this and the comments, what i am more gobsmacked about is the fact that..... could we actually be seeing the return of common sense in life? Or am i speaking tooooo soon? All be it in a scientific format, someone with a wheen of money has been tasked with finding out information that has already been passed down from generation to generation. Can't wait on the next news story, "Man walks down the street and walks around a hole in the ground to avoid injury!" Bring back the common sense!!!! woo hoo!
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mum 11-23-2009 @ 11:39AM
i do agree with everyone that dirt does no harm,i grow up with 5 brothers always playing wit mud.never been in hospital or no allergies.now got a 4 year old im happy he gets dirty he is happy and never been ill.
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paulwbroadley 11-23-2009 @ 12:12PM
i knew this when i was 5...!
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GEORGE 11-23-2009 @ 12:53PM
another old saying has come back "Show me a dirty kid and I'll show you a healthy kid. As youngsters we often drank from the local ponds, we shared each others sarnies' I don't think that I washed my hands,during the day, only before having a meal, and that was because mom told me to. I agree to much is being shoved about hygiene. Have people also noticed how may pools/lakes/ponds, have no swimming or even paddling signs, just because someone might get an infection. As a youngster, I swam in any water that took my fancy, I'm still around., Getting dirty and hurt is all part of growing up
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Karen 11-23-2009 @ 1:13PM
Wonder how much they spent on this research to tell us what we obviously all know!
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Carol 11-23-2009 @ 1:17PM
My Granny had a sign in her kitchen "My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy" something I always followed when bringing up my kids and when childminding too. There's clean dirt and dirty dirt. We've all see the kids who have had a great day and get slung in the bath in the evening and the other extreme when cleanliness and hygiene go out the door! Once kids and their stuff are sorted out at the end of the day - where's the problem?
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Tiggy 11-23-2009 @ 1:23PM
Is it just kids, or am I allowed to be dirty too?
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GARY 11-23-2009 @ 2:37PM
IVE BEEN IN THE UK MEAT INDUSTRY FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND AM SO RELIEVED TO SEE SOME COMMON SENSE AT LAST. THE CURRENT OBSESSION WITH CLINICAL CLEANLINESS IS SLOWLY CREATING A NATION WITH NO NATURAL DEFENCES TO BACTERIA ETC. LETS HOPE THAT ONE DAY COMMON SENSE WILL BE RETURNED TO THIS NATION SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE NATURALLY AS NATURE INTENDED.
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Jo Dilly 12-02-2009 @ 6:44AM
Here Here Gary
b r mapp 11-23-2009 @ 2:44PM
I am often amused when watching HOW CLEAN IS YOUR HOUSE on the television. How it is pointed out that they have been living with deadly bacteria and if they dont do something about it they will catch some deadly disease and die.......Why then are they still reasonably healthy??
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Happy 12-02-2009 @ 9:30AM
On "How Clean is Your House", they always use the good old fashioned cleaners. Biological washing powder, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, lemon juice etc. No shop bought anti-bacterial cleaners there! (Biological washing powder that has the natural enzymes to do good.) And lavender or other natural oils to give it all a nice smell.
chas 11-23-2009 @ 3:14PM
Reports from new Zealand and India say that second hand cigarette smoke helps a child's immune system
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