Science has said that keeping kids clean all the time is not the best for them. Kids must be allowed to get dirty. Parents and teachers need to stop slathering their kids with hand sanitizers because it actually does more harm than good, killing off the good along with the bad. The microbes found in dirt and dirty things play a crucial role in training a child’s immune system to respond correctly, and populate the good microflora in their gut.

Studies have shown that kids who grow up on farms or have dogs at home are 20% less likely to develop asthma, the reason being that they are always in contact with a greater number of microbes.

Parents therefore need to ease off a bit and realise that kids are going to be kids, that they are going to put a lot of strange things in their mouth, and this is part of their experiencing the world, tasting the world we live in, as well as replenishing these microbes they need to develop.