Paradox & Inspiration 125: Kids, Don't Wash Your Hands Before Meal Times

How often do we holler our kids for not washing up themselves before they grab and stuff food into their mouths? And how much money have we so lavishly splurged on antibacterial hand soaps? And how much effort have we made to survey the most effective brand of antibacterial bath gel just to make sure the kids stay clean and protected at all times? We think that our kids should keep themselves germs-free so that they don't fall sick easily, don't we?

A new Northwestern University research suggests otherwise. Its findings reveal that normal exposure to everyday germs early in life can prevent diseases in adulthood. Below are some quotes from Thomas McDade, lead author of the study, associate professor of anthropology in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research.

"...inflammatory networks may need the same type of microbial exposures early in life that have been part of the human environment for all of our evolutionary history to function optimally in adulthood...we have this idea that we need to protect infants and children from microbes and pathogens at all possible costs...But we may be depriving developing immune networks of important environmental input needed to guide their function throughout childhood and into adulthood. Without this input, our research suggests, inflammation may be more likely to be poorly regulated and result in inflammatory responses that are overblown or more difficult to turn off once things get started."

The study, which began in the 1980s, was conducted with data from a longitudinal study of 3,327 Filipino mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy. The mothers were interviewed about care giving and their households were assessed for socioeconomic levels and hygiene. Researchers continued to make visits and followed up until the research subjects were approximately 22 years of age. Blood tests revealed Filipino participants in their early 20s had CRP concentrations on average of .2 milligrams per liter -- that's about five to seven times lower than the average CRP levels C-reactive protein (CRP), a protein that rises in the blood due to inflammation, in adulthood, for Americans of the same age.

You, the discerning reader make the judgement call and decide.