My grandmother had a saying "You have to eat a peck before you die." Meaning that chicken leg that fell on the kitchen floor is okay to eat, if you don't wash your hands you will be okay if you eat, etc.

My grandmother actually said "You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die."

There was also another recent study which made the same points. In that study it recommended that every baby have regular hands on contact with cats and dogs. The study said that regular contact with cats and dogs from birth until around 4 years old is the healthest thing a parent could do and that the vast amount of children raised with pets never have allgeries or asthma or immune problems. The study criticized mothers raising children in a germ free approach.

I believe this is true. When I was a child, none of the kids had these problems. Now it is so commonplace and many mothers are really into germ free.

My father made the same statement about dirt. I grew up on a farm---had cats, dogs, pigs, cows, horses and chickens. We went barefoot whenever we could--especially after it rained--so much fun splashing thru the mud puddles. We had no allergies. In fact I grew up never receiveing an annual checkup--got all our shots thru the school--only saw the doc if we needed stitches.
I have read it is better to not use all the antibactial soaps because it causes germs to become resistant. It is not the soap that does the most cleaning but it is the pressure and amount of time we spend in scrubbing our hands that is the most benificial.

When I was a kid, I never wore shoes in the summer. My feet were always dirty. I remember going in the bathroom and washing my feet before bed. We had a pool in the backyard and I went in it daily.

I was raised in as germ free an enviornment as my mother could muster in the late 30's and early 40's. I was not allowed to eat anything at anyone's house without asking first, no public pools and no contact with large groups of people, especially in the summer. My mother once saw a cockroach at my great grandmother's house so I was not allowed to eat the chocolate cookie she offered. No soda pop, only selected kinds of bought cookies, no pickles out of a barrel etc etc....
I was a sickly child with all sorts of allergies. And the more often I got sick the more careful my mother was.
Finally, when I was 9 my brother was born and I was free...I waded in the brook and caught pollywogs with my bare hands, I actually managed to go 2 days without having my hair combed and my braids re-done. I walked down town by myself and ate candy from a bin that other's had touched....and I actually ate lunch at the cafeteria at shcool....and I was sick less, and I gained weight...
Yep...gotta eat a peck of dirt!
Linda C

Interestingly enough, I have mild asthma which is from allergies to certain foods, such as wheat and rice. If I stay away from them entirely, I breathe very well - but the moment I have even a small amount, I get a noticeable asthma reaction.

Whereas if I eat a little bit once a day or every couple of days, it doesn't affect my breathing much at all, and I have no excessive reaction.

One of the worst things about antibacterial soap is that it is very bad for the municipal water system.

I was horrified last night to see a TV commercial for Clorox with some new product "safe enough" (because of its dilution rate) to use everyday. Mom had the spray bottle and there was the baby and dog. It said at the end something about being a "good mother". I wanted to grab the baby and dog and whisk them away to safety before she began spraying BLEACH in their faces and on all the surfaces they touch and chew!

Can anybody these days still think this is a GOOD idea?!

Although I agree about it not being necessary for health reasons to by ultra-hygenic, I don't think it will necessarily reduce allergies. My father had another job, but he also basically ran a farm. We had cows most of my childhood as well as chickens, geese, pigs, etc. We always had at least 1 dog. I would lay down in the straw with the calves. We played with the chickens and dressed the geese up in doll clothes. The only person who ever told us not to get dirty was my grandmother who was convinced we would get hookworm (we never did). We would walk down to the barn barefoot.

I have all kinds of allergies and have since childhood. I'm allergic to all fur (every animal I've ever encountered) as well as dust, and a bunch of pollens. I also had severe eczema and still have it on my hands. The allergies first developed when I was six. Oh, I also have asthma. My sister doesn't have the allergies but does have what appears to be Celiac Disease.

DH had every allergy known to man. He grew up in the suburbs but his family had a weekend/summer place on a lake where the kids ran wild. If his mother was the same then as she is now I doubt she worried about them getting dirty. He was lucky, he outgrew his allergies.

I don't think a little dirt will hurt you, but I wouldn't count on it to protect you either. I don't use bleach on anything and don't "disinfect" surfaces (well, except when I've handled chicken). I do use hand sanitizer after taking public transportation or if the flu is going around the office.

Pinktoes, do you allow your kids to swim in a pool? Likely there is a higher concentration of chlorine in that water than in the bottle of the "Safe Enough" spray.
Chlorine disapates into the air, that's why you have to keep adding it to a pool.
Linda C

I thought the anti-pool people were objecting to the body waste potentially in the water, not the chlorine?

My mother has bad COPD. It is another name for emphtsema. She is very afraid of infections, especially upper respiratory infections. She is especially careful of grocery store cart handles. She wipes them with disenfectant cloths before handling.

lindac: I'm 60, so don't have kids and pools. I do have asthma, which is triggered by chlorine. As a child they didn't know much about triggers. I just had attacks in the pool, whereas when I was allowed to swim in the dirty lake I was fine. We didn't understand why. My doc now knows. Frustrated the heck out of my mother who was a clean freak.

Now I have a whole house water purifier installed to remove the chlorine from our public water supply. When we first moved here and hadn't put it in I was having asthma attacks in the shower and that's when my doc and I figured it out. The plumber, who lived in another county, said our water had more chlorine in it than his swimming pool.

So, there are no simple solutions. Yes, chlorine dissipates. So, if I had small children I would use an alternative chemical in the pool, which there are plenty of now. Or, I'd make them wait a week till the water was nice and full of bacteria again and then swim!

It's always good to come here and chat with other "board" certified medical specialists. LOL

My mother still uses a wooden cutting board my father made for her 40 years ago. When I warn her of the "dangers" of wooden cutting boards she always tells me "I've been using it for 40 years and haven't killed anyone yet."

Along that same line, doesn't it annoy you on Food Network cooking shows when the person says "...always make sure to wash your hands after touching raw chicken" -- no kidding, they must think their viewers are a bunch of dumb dumbs.

At my child's elementary school this year, many teachers asked for donations of antibacterial wipes. The teacher's feel it will help stop the spread of colds. Personally, I don't want my kid touching those things. The only thing I use them for is to quickly clean up the toilet if someone is coming over (they are expensive and wasteful).