Network: 
Getting dirty helps a child's skin heal from cuts and inflammations.In the latest confirmation of the "hygiene hypothesis," which states that exposure to different kinds of germs during childhood helps the body fight off allergies and other aliments, researchers at University of California at San Diego discovered that otherwise harmless bacteria found in dirt interrupts the process of skin inflammation.
Many scientists believe children in more developed countries are kept too clean by their parents, and that this accounts for the recent jump in childhood allergies in these regions.
With this latest finding, we're just one broccoli-causes-cancer study away from all of our childhood complaints being completely vindicated.
The Happy Hour Hero widget brings amazing facts and figures to your desktop, MySpace page, Facebook profile or blog:
loading...
Comments:
Add a comment
Tuesday 24 November
By Takahashi
So true. There is a point to being health conscience, but now you can see why the developed world has such a prevalence of the common illnesses. I grew up playing in the dirt and snow in a small little town, and still go out all the time. I never seem to get as sick as some of my friends who've lived inside a healthy and clean suburb their entire lives.
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By Gee
While I agree with this story 100%, your argument that living in a suburb somehow causes illness has no point. I let my kids play outside in the dirt in the "suburbs" and they dont get sick either. You can live in the middle of the woods and still get sick if you're always sanitizing everything so, point being, let your kids play outside, whether you live in a city, suburb, or rural area.
Saturday 28 November
By Funk
Gee,
You've read the comment entirely wrong. There is no statement that suburb's cause disease. It's a matter of reduced prevention that Taka is arguing. Increases in prevalence don't always indicate an area's or even bacteria/virus's ability to cause disease. Other factor's like environment influence this. Taka is arguing that prior exposure received by dirt/snow/lifestyle allowed him/her to have a increased resistance to disease later in life.
Saturday 28 November
By Janet
Not all dirt is created alike....some dirt is not healthy for kids to wallow around in. Some dirt is infected with lead poisoning or with hook worms (ect)...so all dirt is not well in the wallowing....and neither will your children be if they are infected by it!
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By Gee
Oh please, you are one of "those" people...
Saturday 28 November
By Jim
I grew up in Chicago in the 50's and 60's, we had to stop playing in the rain water at the curbs in the 50's because of polio, but never did stop playing in the dirt. We also shared drinks, tried to dig to China and lived a GREAT life.
Saturday 28 November
By GK
Janet, you are perfectly right. Not all dirt is fit to play in. The problem with people keeping themselves and their house too clean is that they are using products that contain toxic chemicals to accomplish this. If a product has a warning: "Do not swallow", it is not wise to put it on your skin either. Our skin is the largest organ of our body. Use plain vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. I even use vinegar as a fabric softener for my laundry. There is no doubt that playing outside is healthy--our bodies need vitamin D to function well which is naturally produced when exposed to sunshine--but I would not encourage anyone to wallow in the dirt.
Saturday 28 November
By rob
now parents need to get a video with dirt in it
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By mosparx
I ate dirt by the spoonful as a kid. Grew up on a farm, worked in the muck and the dust. Dirt never seemed to harm me one bit.
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By Angela
Nothing like a good o'l homemade mud pie! lol
Saturday 28 November
By andy
"God made dirt, and dirt don't hurt."
Saturday 28 November
By Judy
My husband ate dirt too when he was young.
Saturday 28 November
By florence
The healthy children were the ones that could get out in the dirt and play. My mother's theory of more than 80 years ago.
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By jocardan
When I was growing up and playing outside all the time, my mother used to say, "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die." It was one of those old sayings that apparently is totally non-PC by today's generations.
Reply
Saturday 28 November
By Dorrie
For us it was, "You have to eat a pound of dirt before you die." A peck sounds like more :)
Saturday 28 November
By Marie620
My neighbor always said a bucket.
Saturday 28 November
By Darla
It was my Grandmother's saying as well. Somehow those of us who are in our 60's all seem to have survived very nicely without hand sanitizers, etc. My kids pacifiers weren't sterilized after they were 2 mos old and, heaven forbid, I let them decide when they needed hats, mittens, scarfs, etc by the time they were in school. None of us are sick as much as those who sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.
Saturday 28 November
By angelo
Why would it be non-PC? Most people who you might refer to as PC reject the use of anti-bacterial gels and soaps, and would be more likely to embrace eating dirt, they're skeptical of everything offered by big-Pharm.
Saturday 28 November
By Beth
I'm going to take this into work and post it on the bulletin board for all of the parents at my school to see! (especially the ones who don't want their kids to get a speck of dirt on them during the school day and they are infants through kindergarten!) I am in my mid 20's and was for SURE a dirt player when I was little. And I also have at least one day per summer where I take my class out to play in the puddles after a rainy day. We call them Mud Days and it is the most fun they have all summer, I swear.
Saturday 28 November
By Kragr1
As a kid, I ate a spoonful of dirt a week for 6-8 months cause I believed it would make me stronger. I had measles, mumps, chickenpox, etc. If your body doesn't learn to fight infections, it won't matter how much sanitizer you spray or slap on your skin. I've lived in some dirty countries, and now at 60, I'm in much better shape than many 40 yr olds I know.
Reply