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And they say that about kids who grow up with pets as well.
All of my kids were encouraged to garden beside me and to eventually have their own little patch. I certainly did not grow up in dirt but as a 30 year old new bride I discovered gardening and it has been my passion for more than 35 years.
well my parents house had tons of cats, was moldy as hell, dirty, and it was an overall hell growing up and I also played in the dirt
I can't step foot in Indiana or near cats (or even dogs) without allergic issues.
Though i'm only a n of 1. . .i find the link between hygine and allergies as pretty tough. Correlation and causation are two different things.. . especially with a biological and genetic system as complex as the immune system.
Sorry, but an unsubstantiated article does not out weigh some 17,000 scientific peer reviewed articles.
Well of course I can't link every article on this issue and don't have time to look them all up. I included two. The second one I included was from the National Institute of Health, which is as scientific as you get. If you can plow your way through that piece it talks about the many doubts about the theory even though it is an old article. Even one of the articles you included was pretty doubtful about the likelihood that the hygiene hypothesis is correct.
The hygiene hypothesis is a decades old theory that has NEVER been proven by anyone, particularly when it comes to food allergies. That makes it doubtful. Many articles I have read have indicated that perhaps our dirt etc. today has different microbes than the past, which could play a role. That is just an idea though that has not been proven.
I am not saying that environment does not play a role. As I mentioned, I think our diet likely plays a big role partially because of the new chemicals in our food, and I would not be surprised if pollution etc. plays a role. I just see a lot of people on this site talking about rather disgusting things they did as a kid and talking about that like it is good. I think infectious disease doctors would have a field day with some of the comments. In the end, there is no scientific study that shows kids who have allergies are the ones coming from houses that are the cleanest ones on the block or anything like that. I wish my house was the cleanest on the block, but it is certainly not!
Isn't interesting that "food allergies" are up in middle and upper class white communities and not in poorer or African American communities. An interesting study was done on Israeli children and Jewish children living in the UK with similar demographics and genetics and the British kids were 10x more likely to have parents that reported a food allergy. Could it be that the Israeli families had more dire things to worry about?
Isn't interesting that "food allergies" are up in middle and upper class white communities and not in poorer or African American communities. An interesting study was done on Israeli children and Jewish children living in the UK with similar demographics and genetics and the British kids were 10x more likely to have parents that reported a food allergy. Could it be that the Israeli families had more dire things to worry about?
Could be...
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 09-07-2013 at 09:48 AM..
Tar bubbles were a summer highlight in my world. I haven't seen them in years, so you're probably safe from that Finster. I was having a nostalgic moment, so I Googled tar bubbles and found this article:
And reading the comments that followed, found out we were only getting half the enjoyment possible from fresh tar. People used to chew it!
We certainly did chew it back in the late 40s/50s. Yummy Not sure our mother's approved but that likely just made it all the better.
As for the OP, there's nothing better for children than good clean dirt! In this electronic, tech age, children don't know what they're missing. here's a whole outdoors out there.
Isn't interesting that "food allergies" are up in middle and upper class white communities and not in poorer or African American communities. An interesting study was done on Israeli children and Jewish children living in the UK with similar demographics and genetics and the British kids were 10x more likely to have parents that reported a food allergy. Could it be that the Israeli families had more dire things to worry about?
This is completely not true. African Americans (likely from all economic classes) actually have among the highest rates of food allergies:
Also food allergies are more common in urban areas, which tend to be more diverse both economically and ethnicity-wise. As for Israel, it is funny you mention that particular country because scientists there seem to do a lot of studies on food allergies. I keep track of food allergy trials and a number of them seem to be in Israel and in Scandinavian countries.
Finally as for worrying about supposedly more important things--that is just insulting. My daughter has almost died from her allergies twice, and a 13 year old girl recently just passed away at a camp from her food allergy--despite the fact that she was given three Epipen shots. Food allergies are real and dangerous, and they are not just occurring because we supposedly don't let our kids play in the dirt. Moderator Cut.
Last edited by Jaded; 09-07-2013 at 01:54 AM..
Reason: Inappropriate language
Also food allergies are more common in urban areas, which tend to be more diverse both economically and ethnicity-wise. As for Israel, it is funny you mention that particular country because scientists there seem to do a lot of studies on food allergies. I keep track of food allergy trials and a number of them seem to be in Israel and in Scandinavian countries.
Finally as for worrying about supposedly more important things--that is just insulting. My daughter has almost died from her allergies twice, and a 13 year old girl recently just passed away at a camp from her food allergy--despite the fact that she was given three Epipen shots. Food allergies are real and dangerous, and they are not just occurring because we supposedly don't let our kids play in the dirt.
Lupus has long been a "women's" disease, way before the "hygiene hypothesis", aka "dirt theory" was around. The author assumes that girls, but not boys, were forbidden from playing in the dirt, something that this thread has shown not to be true in all cases.
Also food allergies are more common in urban areas, which tend to be more diverse both economically and ethnicity-wise. As for Israel, it is funny you mention that particular country because scientists there seem to do a lot of studies on food allergies. I keep track of food allergy trials and a number of them seem to be in Israel and in Scandinavian countries.
Finally as for worrying about supposedly more important things--that is just insulting. My daughter has almost died from her allergies twice, and a 13 year old girl recently just passed away at a camp from her food allergy--despite the fact that she was given three Epipen shots. Food allergies are real and dangerous, and they are not just occurring because we supposedly don't let our kids play in the dirt.
Listen I'm not saying that your child doesn't have food allergies or that a child at her camp didn't pass away from an allergic reaction, but both are way more rare than advertised or believed by hysterical parents and the media. About 150 people (including children and adults) die every year in the US from food allergic reactions. 2000 drown. 10,000 kids are hospitalized every year with traumatic brain injuries from sports accidents.
Yes, African Americans may have a higher rate of food allergies and allergies in general but it isn't growing at the rate of white kids. Asthma is an entirely different subject that has nothing to do with food allerigies in nearly all cases.
The New York Times ran an excellent piece a few years ago from many experts on the "rise" in food allergies. I'm linking to it below. Could there be a true increase? Well maybe but genes don't generally change that rapidly, the truth is that the way that food allergies are counted is fuzzy and parents are sensitive to it. Case in point my daughter gets a pimply rash on her mouth if she eats dried fruit, it's a sulfite sensitivity that's quite common, it's recorded at her pediatrician as a food allergy even though it would never endanger anything.
Listen I'm not saying that your child doesn't have food allergies or that a child at her camp didn't pass away from an allergic reaction, but both are way more rare than advertised or believed by hysterical parents and the media. About 150 people (including children and adults) die every year in the US from food allergic reactions. 2000 drown. 10,000 kids are hospitalized every year with traumatic brain injuries from sports accidents.
Yes, African Americans may have a higher rate of food allergies and allergies in general but it isn't growing at the rate of white kids. Asthma is an entirely different subject that has nothing to do with food allerigies in nearly all cases.
The New York Times ran an excellent piece a few years ago from many experts on the "rise" in food allergies. I'm linking to it below. Could there be a true increase? Well maybe but genes don't generally change that rapidly, the truth is that the way that food allergies are counted is fuzzy and parents are sensitive to it. Case in point my daughter gets a pimply rash on her mouth if she eats dried fruit, it's a sulfite sensitivity that's quite common, it's recorded at her pediatrician as a food allergy even though it would never endanger anything.
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