Thursday, February 3, 2011
How Keeping Little Girls Squeaky Clean Could Make Them Sick?
NPR just posted this article today that really caught my attention. The title of the article is "How Keeping Little Girls Squeaky Clean Could Make Them Sick?" While it has nothing to do with social media, it has everything to do with girls and the way they are raised. This article blames the socialization of girls to be clean and prim on why so many girls deal with illnesses such as asthma and allergies. I've always been happy that my parents let me go outside, run in the woods, climb trees, and then come home to my mom checking me for ticks. I got my fair share of illnesses during my childhood. Now, though, in my adulthood, I rarely get sick. In fact, I can't remember the last time I've been sick. I felt that this article was very interesting. I'd like to hear from everyone if they felt that the way they were raised affected their immune system.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this article. It was interesting. I think there are more important factors effecting the likelihood of development of illness or disease than ingesting dirt. But, this research is really suggesting that it is our gendering of girls which predisposes them to illness and disease.
That is a rather large generalization. As you suggest, an individual experience is the key to understanding their development of illness/disease. However, there are general environmental and cultural factors which could be applied for human benefit in defense of these developments. As far as parenting is concerned, breastfeed your children, your toddlers, let them get dirty, let things get dirty.
Just a few days ago, I set out a container with a solution of water and Dr. Bronners (organic extra virgin coconut, olive, jojoba and hemp oils, together with pure essential oil) after I cleaned my floor. After about a week nearly a dozen baby cockroaches were dead inside. Now, lets not judge the fact that I have baby cockroaches in my apartment...sometimes nearby neighbors ruin it for everyone. Now, don't you think its funny coconut, olive, and hemp oils would kill a cockroach, while at the same time they are becoming ever more resistant to pesticides?
Personally, the way I was raised which affected my immunity for the best was in the culture of eating in our home. We rarely ate out, most dinner meals were homecooked and lunches packed. We had our share fruits and veggies and nuts + grains, alongside our share of preservatives and additives and microwaveables. However, I still believe their Eastern European culture of cooking home meals gave us a headstart in immunity v. the American culture of Fast Food. Also, I was only breastfed for a few weeks in infancy which I think could be a factor in the compromised immunity I have more recently been facing, while at the same time a testament to the high immunity I have held most of my life.
err, affecting
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny from a scientific standpoint. If you think about it, being exposed to different microbes in the environment will help in the future. Once the body comes into contact with a pathogen it's going to start producing antibodies against said pathogen. The first time you're exposed to it doesn't always mean that you'll get an infection or see symptoms of whatever the pathogen is... but then the next time you come into contact with the same pathogen, you definitely won't see any symptoms because you'll already have the army, or antibodies, to fight it.
ReplyDeletemaybe it's a conspiracy against women and they're trying to physically make us the "weaker sex" by keeping us clean so that we're unable to fight microbes later in life as efficiently. I'm just joking, obviously... but it's interesting to think about. If more parents knew that young kids getting out and getting dirty could help their health be better, maybe more parents would throw away the social stereotype that girls need to be clean, prim and proper when it comes to playing and let the girls go out and play with the boys!