Let them eat dirt! Our obsession with hygiene is jeopardising our children's health

 

 

Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein believes that the answer to our children's health problems lies in the great outdoors Credit: Age Fotostock RM 

 

By:

Eleanor Steafel 

 

It’s a nerve-wrecking time to be a parent. Every week, mothers are chastised with the seemingly endless list of chronic childhood illnesses their little ones might contract, from autoimmune diseases like eczema or asthma to nut allergies,

, to behavioural disorders such as ADHD. But what if we could prevent early-onset health issues simply by making our kids roll around in the dirt? In her new book Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child, Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein advocates a lifestyle centred around contact with the microbes present in soil.
“Parents today are keeping their children away from the things that are critical to their health,” says Dr Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist and mother-of-three from New York. “We are sanitising their lives with cleaning products, pesticides and antibiotics.”
Recent research from the journal Occupational Environmental shows that children exposed to bleach actually have more, not fewer infections - including a 20 per cent higher risk of coming down with the flu, she points out.
“Microbes, fresh food from healthy soil, time spent in nature, can improve our children’s health immeasurably. No drug can do what being in the forest can.”
 , to behavioural disorders such as ADHD.
But what if we could prevent early-onset health issues simply by making our kids roll around in the dirt? In her new book Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child, Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein advocates a lifestyle centred around contact with the microbes present in soil.
“Parents today are keeping their children away from the things that are critical to their health,” says Dr Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist and mother-of-three from New York. “We are sanitising their lives with cleaning products, pesticides and antibiotics.”
Recent research from the journal Occupational Environmental shows that children exposed to bleach actually have more, not fewer infections - including a 20 per cent higher risk of coming down with the flu, she points out.
“Microbes, fresh food from healthy soil, time spent in nature, can improve our children’s health immeasurably. No drug can do what being in the forest can.”
, to behavioural disorders such as ADHD.
But what if we could prevent early-onset health issues simply by making our kids roll around in the dirt? In her new book Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child, Dr Maya Shetreat-Klein advocates a lifestyle centered around contact with the microbes present in soil.
“Parents today are keeping their children away from the things that are critical to their health,” says Dr Shetreat-Klein, a pediatric neurologist and mother-of-three from New York. “We are sanitising their lives with cleaning products, pesticides and antibiotics.”
Recent research from the journal Occupational Environmental shows that children exposed to bleach actually have more, not fewer infections - including a 20 per cent higher risk of coming down with the flu, she points out.
“Microbes, fresh food from healthy soil, time spent in nature, can improve our children’s health immeasurably. No drug can do what being in the forest can.”
Now, the way Dr Shetreat-Klein feeds her family has changed dramatically. Her husband and three children all hike at the weekends and spend as much time in the outdoors as possible, as well as keeping to a diet high in the vegetables grown in their garden.  

Dr Shetreat-Klein has since seen similarly startling results in her patients. “I had a patient recently who was having real difficulty in school both with focus and learning and really explosive behaviour. His parents wanted help with his behaviour, but also mentioned he had a history of eczema and ear infections.
"Because of that, I suspected it could be related to dairy as studies have shown there to be a connection between symptoms like ear infections and eczema with a dairy intolerance. The family cleaned up their diet and went dairy-free and by the end of the month they had a different kid. Their teacher thought they had put him on medication, there was such a change.”
Dr Shetreat-Klein believes introducing a diverse range of foods grown from healthy soil and plenty of time spent outside in nature will give a child’s gut the resilience the body needs to prevent typical childhood conditions.

Source: telegraph.co.uk