I envision a future where parents allow their children (in a reasonable and knowingly safe manner) to get 'dirty' from time to time and embrace the more 'wild' style of living as opposed to having to strictly monitor and control exposure to natural elements.
Knowing that the latter lifestyle would result in weaker immunity, more allergies as discussed in class; there is the additional factor that there are more interventions/ waste production from humans harmful to the environment (i.e., packaging bananas in individual wrappers for the purpose of preventing contamination, using an excessive amount of pesticides in agriculture to meet the expectation of what cleanliness has become in the last few decades, or throwing away excessive/ wasteful amounts of a produce on sight of a bruise marking).
The main interventions of this topic would revolve around changing existing perceptions or practices. For example parents that ban pets in their household with the logic that they are dirty, or throw away whole plates of untouched food for the fact that a harmless insect/ morsel of dirt landed on it, or throwing away foods based on ‘best before dates’ could maybe benefit from having conversations and guidance from doctors or public health officiators to change the way of living for the mutual benefit of living and our environment. In the same vein, it would be helpful for doctors to have a protocol to have this flora/ microbiome conversation with new parents such that decisions made later in life are educated ( keeping in mind that there is still the freedom to decide personal preferences).
Hi Anna, I love your post! I think it really reflects the way I've been feeling about this topic as well. I think your interventions make a lot of sense. I think the notion that dirt, or anything touched by the natural word (like insects and other animals), makes something unusable or not OK to be in contact with, has been perpetuated by certain companies and industries, and we need to have broader, more accessible messaging about how this is not the case for everything. The people who created this messy messaging should be the same ones to dismantle it!
Hi Anna! I completely agree - we need to start educating parents more on the benefits of embracing nature into their lifestyles as otherwise our future generations may suffer the consequences of weaker immunity and allergies.
Great post Anna! I'm interested by how you mentioned throwing away food after the 'best before' dates, because this one stumps me all the time! I don't trust a "smell-check".
For example, for non-perishables I usually disregard the BB date, especially if it's never been opened. But for perishable foods, especially dairy products, I am frequently questioning the BB date. Is it that it is simply best before said date, but still edible after? Or if I should I be concerned about the food perishing? If I eat food that is slightly perished I'm probably fine, but to what degree?
I would love to learn more about how I can better understand for how long which types of foods are still good for my gut, and when they've actually reached the point of no return. Thanks for surfacing this aspect of food and "dirtiness"!
These are some great ideas, the education and encouragement from doctors and public health officials would be a very effective way to promote these changes. We should push for schools of medicine and public health to convey these ideas, if they haven't started already.
Hello Anna! I agree that we need to normalize allowing children to explore and get dirty, and I feel that your idea of doctors having to explain to new parents the benefits of getting a bit dirty would be very effective in normalizing this :)
Love these thoughts! Especially considering that encouraging children to spend more time interacting with dirt, animals, etc has the added benefit of increasing their time in nature, and thus strengthening their connection with it as well.
Hey Anna,
It's crazy to think how germaphobe centered we've become, especially after Covid! I've seen it at grocery stores where things that used to be in bulk are now packaged in 100g plastic bags, which is incredibly harmful to the environment!
Hi Anna,
I loved playing outside as a kid in the dirt making "potions" out of leaves and twigs, and catching insects. It's sad to think how sheltered some kids are now from those kinds of experiences. I definitely agree that changing the perceptions through education and debunking the idea that everything that is dirty is bad would be a good way to rectify the issue.
As a pet lover, I never felt that indoor pets can have a lot of germs that can harm people. Maybe humans carry more germs than pets.
A lot of pet abandonment happens in homes with children. But what these parents don't realize is that pets can build deep friendships with children. Sometimes pets can take care of them.
To this day, I still see ads for abandoning pets because of 'pregnancy' or 'newborn' as an excuse. I abhor these ads, and it's disgusting that they explicitly list the price of pets.
We can't ignore the potential hazards in our environment, but we can't use that as an excuse for ignorance.
Hey Anna! I liked your caption. It caught my attention right away. I love your thoughts around this. Hopefully we will see some changes in the future of how we allow are kids to "play in the dirt"
Hi Anna,
Love your post! I agree that on top of the negative health consequences of being "too clean," this type of lifestyle also results in negative environmental consequences like the use of unnecessary packaging and waste. More awareness needs to be raised surrounding the fact that not all the precautions parents take are necessary for their children to still grow up healthy. I would love to see more of it talked about it in new parenting books: that it is possible for both your children to grow up healthy without being at the expense of the environment!
Hi Anna,
Although I'm still a bit scared to eat dirt directly myself, I totally believe it's a great choice to let children be exposed to bacteria and pathogens earlier on, while they still have the immunity protection from their mother's breastmilk. This way, we can have a natural boost of health for the next generation.
Honestly speaking, parenting and being responsible for a child is so difficult in this day and age. There are so many differing opinions, that you would feel inadequate no matter what you do. Some parents would never let their children play in dirt just for the reason that they would get dirty, and people would judge them for allowing their child to mess around in the dirt.
Hi Anna, I too think that children should be allowed to play and be exposed to nature. I really liked your point about how much waste is generated due to 'cleanliness standards', it made me think of how many disposable wipes and cleaning products are used unnecessarily which create more waste
Hi Anna Chou, I agree, shifting societal norms with regards to sanitation will require an increase in oped conversation and education. As a result, like you mentioned starting these conversations early with our primary care practitioners that we put our trust into is a wonderful way of educating families on scientific based facts so families can make more informed decisions.
Great post! Having doctors involved to educate parents would be an effective way to change the perceptions of parents as they are trusted by most people.
I agree parental education is very important for a child's wellbeing so increasing awareness on the importance of being reasonably 'dirty' is a great idea!
Hi Anna, I agree that it is very important for children to build strong immunity from a young age and I think talking about this especially with new parents is important.