OBSESSION WITH CLEANLINESS?

Do you have an obsession with cleanliness?

• Do you make sure to stock the bathroom with anti-bacterial soap?  
• Do you believe you are protecting your children by using an endless supply of anti-bacterial wipes to clean their hands and everything they touch? 
• Do you routinely use bleach to clean and ‘sanitize’ any number of surfaces in your home? 
• Do you use those fabric softeners or dryer sheets that promise to produce soft and fresh-smelling clothes, free of static and wrinkles? 
• Do you use chemical pesticides in and around your home? 
• Do you find yourself picking up antibiotics on a regular basis to treat your family's recurring illnesses ?

A SIMPLE TRUTH

This obsession with cleanliness is so widespread we may have forgotten a simple truth our parents and grandparents believed and practiced. That is, as young children, we need to be exposed to the outside – dirt and all!  

Did you know that many common childhood illnesses and disorders could be avoided if children were exposed early on to the microbes that can be found in healthy dirt? A young child’s immune system must be exposed to as many diverse microbes as possible in order to grow a healthy immune system.  

Eating a range of vegetables and fruits grown organically in healthy soil in our own gardens or bought in our local markets can positively bolster a child’s immune system as well. This, along with spending as much time outside in nature as possible can actually give a child the resilience he or she needs to avoid typical chronic childhood illnesses such as asthma, behavior disorders, and allergies, among others.

Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child

Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist, has written a very interesting book titled, ‘ Healthy Food, Heathy Gut, Happy Child.’

Dr. Shetreat-Klein advocates a lifestyle centered around contact with the microbes present in soil. This theory includes eating food grown in healthy soil as well as providing adequate access to the outdoors, especially for our children. Dr. Shetreat-Klein believes this may be the answer to our children’s health problems.

She points out in her book how our obsession with cleanliness (leading to the over-sanitization of our lives) deprives our guts of the biodiversity found in healthy soil. This in turn makes us more susceptible to conditions such as allergies. ‘When there are fewer organisms and compounds in our gut, the immune system starts turning its attention to attacking our food and the things it’s exposed to in the environment.’

BEWARE OF HAZARDOUS CLEANING CHEMICALS

Conscientious adults, especially parents, must also be aware of the hazardous chemicals they introduce into the indoor environment to keep the home and its contents clean, and be fully aware of the dangers of using them regularly.

Chemicals such as bleach, phthalates, triclosan, galaxolide, methylisothiazolinone, glutarel, among many others, as well as a number of artificial colors (such as D&C violet 2) have been proven to be hazardous to our health. It has actually been shown that children exposed to bleach have a 20% higher risk of coming down with the flu, not fewer infections!

OBSESSION WITH CLEANLINESS?
STEPS TO TAKE

If the answer to how to avoid many of the childhood conditions our children need not endure means sending our children outside as much as possible where there is fresh air and just plain dirt, who would disagree? 

If feeding our family food grown in healthy dirt can help to bolster our immune systems, who would disagree? 

If clearing the indoor environment of hazardous chemicals and replacing or avoiding them would have a positive effect on avoiding health problems, who would disagree? 

Here are some steps to take:

1. Make every effort to encourage outdoor play time for your child.
2. Try to plan to spend as much family time as possible in parks and forests, etc.
3. Make sure our children can play sports on real dirt.
4. Choosing our family’s foods wisely can also play a most important role in our children’s health and vitality, and our own as well.
5. Limiting or avoiding the use of chemically-laden cleaning and laundering supplies can benefit everyone.
6. Most importantly, use plain old soap and water judiciously and consistently wherever and whenever possible.

HOW ABC CAN HELP...

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