HYGIENE AND IMMUNITY

This topic has taken me for many guilt trips than any other topic ever. I have never liked hand sanitizers and so, had never put them between my infant and the relatives. He had caught an eye infection in the very first week of his life but that did not change me.

I was either lazy or tired and did not wash his toys daily. Sometimes he put Limo's (dog) toys in his mouth and many times the dusty ones. I tried hard putting up with cleaning but with me it's all in vain.
I have let him explore dirt (sometimes taste), tar roads and mossy walls happily, have washed him later though (not completely filthy mom 🙄). I have let him pick something that he had dropped on floor and eat and rejoiced when he'd dirty his pants in the garden or play areas allowing him to roll over in sand and mud, rub it all over his body and throw it over me. And never stopped him from showing affection towards any animal, be it street dog, cats, cows or the ants and moths in the garden. He's put his hands into the muddy lotus pond many a times to catch the fishes and I would be thrilled to see if he succeeded but never worried. And needless to say, I have let him try food at various joints in places we have been to and drink filtered local water too. 

I had guilt in the back of my mind as people would stare me down with glares of disgust but I used to justify myself saying I am building his immunity. Anyways our forefathers have also been this way. When did they have sanitizers, wet tissues and sterilizers? And they turned out healthier than we have. Still looking at adulteration in water, food and nature around these days, I did worry about my take on hygiene.

To my surprise I was not completely wrong! Recently, I read Rujuta Diwekar's book - 'Notes for healthy kids' and I am so relieved that the things I did as a lazy and dirt loving mom are actually approved by the nutritionist I follow wholeheartedly. Here's an excerpt from her book under the title 'hygiene hypothesis' -
'if we must build strong, resilient kids, then we must let them be African in habits. We must allow our little kids to be picked up by aunts, uncles, neighbours; we must let them pick up the piece of fruit that fell on the floor and eat it; we must encourage them to go into muddy parks and roll around. So basically let the desi kids be desi.'

The book also covers solutions to nutritional dilemma we carry about children's health and their food preferences and justifies their need to jump, play and speed around. She is trying to reconnect us with our culture and in the process relieves so much worry that we parents carry about children not eating, not being focused and responsible, etc etc. It's a book that should be read by every parent, grandparent and even older children who can read and understand. 

We need to undo the effects of globalization and step back towards tradition to bring health back into the future. 

Life is equally about unlearning as much it is about learning.