Too much hygiene?
By mcrowl
@mcrowl (1050)
New Zealand
December 27, 2006 5:40pm CST
We have a tv ad here that shows a little boy playing with some mud, and a couple of shots later his mother is washing his hands not with soap, but with a special washing mix she's bought with her on their picnic. Do you think we're getting obsessive about washing and being clean? Is it affecting how much we can actually fight bacteria? My mother used to have an expression: You've got to eat a bit of dirt before you die. What do you think about that?
6 responses
@design (849)
• Ireland
22 Jan 07
The lengths people go to be clean and the area's around them, I just don't understand why. And they wonder why they get sick. Being too clean and the over use of antibiotics definitely affects the way we fight colds etc. I think your mother's saying is bang on.
1 person likes this
@design (849)
• Ireland
26 Jan 07
I think for some people that time is now, also all those people who pop pain killers and don't get a result so they take extra or go on to a stronger brands, or feel that their sick and take antibiotics. I feel Doctors are to quick at handing these over, They really need to go in the other direction possibly alternative medicine combined with regular medicine, Although lots of Doctors won't go for this, It's been proven time and time again. Although some people just need a good placebo and I'm sure they'll get the same results.
@mcrowl (1050)
• New Zealand
27 Jan 07
Yes, we're curious creatures. Sometimes just knowing we've taken something helps. Just as knowing the 'name' of a sickness helps, having it specified, rather than knowing there's something vaguely wrong.
I'm all for alternative medicines, as long as I'm sure I'm not being had by any of them: some of them seem a bit suspect.
@juls2me2 (2150)
• United States
30 Jan 07
I feel that more people are becoming overly obsessive with hygiene in these last years, because of all the rampant diseases. Do you really blame them? I do find myself washing up more while I'm preparing foods and eating dinner with guests. Call me...odd, but food poisoning isn't something I enjoy having. Now when it comes to kids playing outside....yeah let them have fun in the mud, dirt, etc., but I think I would be prone to pull out a wipee or the waterless cleaner too for my kids before we sat down on the picnic clothe to eat. Maybe its just a mom thing at that point or something.
@mcrowl (1050)
• New Zealand
30 Jan 07
I don't think I disagree with you about washing up as I go along when preparing food, and certainly cleaning up kids before they sit down to eat, especially outdoors is sensible...but it's the overdoing of both these issues that's my concern. We don't get food poisoning around our own homes, in general, nor do kids get it when outdoors playing (unless they've been into something really mucky). It's almost as if we're trying to kill off the good bacteria while we kill of the bad...
@loved1 (5328)
• United States
27 Dec 06
I think your mother was right. I always say dirt builds the immune system. In fact my children's doctor says if you keep the environment completely germ free and never expose them to anything they will be sick all the time. The experts have proven that good bacteria live on your hands and if you use hand sanitizer all the time you are killing them off.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
29 Jan 07
Sometimes I think they like to do overkill anymore with Cleanliness, and what works best in keeping a Child well, and clean for that matter. Now every time you turn around one product or company is always trying to prove they are the best one to have around, and everyone jumps with the next ship believing in them before there is any proof that this item is any Good. All I can say it is very True in life and you need to be cautious and careful in all we do, especially when we have kids involved.
@flutterby74 (75)
• United States
27 Dec 06
Yes, I think it is a bit obsessive. If your child is never exposed to bacteria, when they finally are, they will get much sicker.
1 person likes this
