Eating dirt could be good for children

Letting young children eat dirt could be good for their long term health, scientists have revealed.

Researchers found that the millions of bacteria, viruses and worms that enter the body along with dirt support the development of a strong immune system.

Children allowed to play in the mud are less likely to develop autoimmune diseases and allergies.

Meanwhile, in hyperhygenic countries such as the US and the UK, children have higher rates of asthma, allergies, and type 1 diabetes.

According to Dr. Joel V. Weinstock, whilst cleaning up contaminated water and food has saved the lives of millions of children, it has “also eliminated exposure to many organisms that are probably good for us.”

Weinstock said: “Children raised in an ultraclean environment are not being exposed to organisms that help them develop appropriate immune regulatory circuits.”

Weinstock’s fellow researcher, immunologist and gastroenterologist Dr. David Elliott, said: “Dirtiness comes with a price. But cleanliness comes with a price, too.

“We’re not proposing a return to the germ-filled environment of the 1850s.

“But if we properly understand how organisms in the environment protect us, maybe we can give a vaccine or mimic their effects with some innocuous stimulus.”

As well as proposing that children eat without washing their hands, Weinstock and Elliot suggest that household pets help children grow up to be healthy.

“Let kids have two dogs and a cat,” Weinstock said. By being exposed to intestinal worms, children will develop a healthy immune system.