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Let them eat dirt?

700. That’s how many new, antibacterial products were reported to hit supermarket shelves in the US in just 6 years. Why? To protect our children from the thousands of germs lurking everywhere to bring them harm.

So, are they less inclined to illness than they were, say, 20 years ago? Are the supermarket tills ringing in a new era of childhood, free of sniffs and snuffles, of asthma and allergies? Anything but.

What studies show is that handwashing is the single, most important factor in controlling the spread of infection. And the list of occasions on which we, and our children, should be at the bathroom basin suggests we should hardly ever leave it: after using the toilet, after playing outside, after fondling pets, after gardening, after handling raw meat; and before preparing and eating food.

But many recommendations go on to suggest children should wash their hands after playing with shared toys; and that we should all avoid grasping handles and door-knobs unless we’re prepared to beat a path straight back to the bathroom. Can this be right?

Well, let’s look at the arguments. And let’s start with allergens. “Children of middle-class parents”, says BBC Health (July, 2000), “are far more likely to suffer from allergies than their working class equivalents.” Apparently, when our children are plentifully supplied with computers, iPods and Gameboys, they’re strangely reluctant to go outside and play in the mud. This limits their exposure to allergens and so their ability to build immunity in the important early years. Figures show that toddlers who have to make their own amusements, who have no choice but to enjoy rough and tumble in the yard, get more minor childhood ailments but – unlike their more cosseted indoor cousins – are less likely to suffer serious reactions to those allergens later on. Says Muriel Simmons, CEO, British Allergy Foundation: “What seems to be emerging is that children who are not exposed to bacteria are more at risk of developing allergies”.

Germ Welfare

This is called ‘The Hygiene Hypothesis’. First put forward by D.P. Strachen (1989), it suggests that reasonable exposure to dirt and germs may actually shape our children’s immune systems and boost their ability to fight illness. But “Nobody”, says Dr R.M. Ferdman (Professor of Clinical Paediatrics and Physician, Children’s Hospital, LA) “would say that you should purposely expose your child to infections. On the other hand, there is no need to keep children in a bubble.”

Not everyone agrees with The Hygiene Hypothesis. Some researchers point to studies showing that a major cause of asthma, particularly in low-income families, is dust-mites. And there’s surely a spray, a wipe, a foam or HEPA-filtered vacuum cleaner guaranteed to deal with the little blighters.

Wishy Washy Hygiene

OK. So we bundle them out into the yard to collect worms and float paper boats down the gutter. We assume a reasonable exposure to germs, to dirt, to pets, to fluff, and to that week-old slice of French toast from behind the sofa. And then let’s assume a reasonable amount of handwashing, say, after coming in from the garden where there are microbes and bacteria in potting soil, after using the toilet, and again before eating. What do you wash the little grubs’ hands with? Ordinary soap, or one of the sooper-dooper antibacterial agents fighting for your attention on the supermarket shelf?

Well, fear is great for sales, as is guilt: the suggestion that if you don’t take every precaution, you’re somehow failing your children. But there’s one thing the immunologists seem to agree on: it’s not what you wash your hands with that counts – it’s how you wash them. In other words, antibacterial soaps have not been shown in trials to improve health; in fact, some researchers are concerned that, as with the over-use of antibiotics, an over-use of antibacterial agents could be breeding resistant bacteria.

No, it’s scrubbing that comes up smelling of roses. And getting under the nails. And for that you can use Lux or Lysol. Just so long as you do it. Cleanliness may be next to Godliness, but every parent knows that it’s also next to impossible. And just perhaps that’s the way it should be.

Let them eat dirt?

700. That’s how many new, antibacterial products were reported to hit supermarket shelves in the US in just 6 years. Why? To protect our children from the thousands of germs lurking everywhere to bring them harm.

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