Human immunity is formed in the first three years of life. Later, we can support it with an appropriate diet or physical activity. This activity should take place primarily in the open air. – If we can suggest to the child that we go ice skating, bike or sitting at the computer, we should of course choose the former – says Dr. Wojciech Feleszko, a pediatrician, immunologist, and immunity expert.
- Movement in the fresh air, in various greenery, is absolutely necessary for our children – says Dr. Wojciech Feleszko
- As the expert emphasizes, sitting in the dirt can support the child’s immunity, thanks to the friendly bacteria in the ground
- Washing the youngest children should not be done too often, because it does not help the skin microbiome
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
Dr. Wojciech Feleszko, pediatrician and immunologist, emphasizes that our immune system is formed in the first years of life. The decisive period is the first thousand days of life, about three years. Later, we should keep him in good shape through, inter alia, falling asleep, using preventive vaccinations, avoiding smog and cigarettes or physical activity. Communing with nature is also very important from the point of view of our immunity.
Adrian Dąbek, Medonet: The Lord places great emphasis on the role of contact with nature, as often and as early as possible, in shaping immunity.
Dr. Wojciech Feleszko: Of course! This fact is not only scientifically confirmed, but also socially resonant. There is a “Children Have a Day Off” Foundation in Poland. It promotes the activity of preschool and school children in green nature. The farther from civilization the better. This is a great initiative for two reasons. The first one is that exercise in the fresh air, in a variety of greenery, is absolutely necessary. If we can offer the child to go ice skating or bike or sit at the computer, then of course let’s choose the former. And use this natural tendency of the child to move. Parents use it less and less nowadays, but this is the way to better immunity.
The second piece of evidence comes from Finland, where the research was conducted. First it came from entomologists, butterflies from the vicinity of the Baltic Sea were examined. It was found that the greater the plant biodiversity, the later it translates into a variety in the development of a certain species of butterflies. They have different wings and other elements. The research of entomologists was watched by allergists and checked what it looks like in children. Do children who live in concrete deserts have a different composition of skin flora than children who live in the woods, in the countryside, among many species of plants. As it turned out? First, it turned out that in fact this flora differs significantly in composition, plant diversity reflected in the multitude and multiplicity of microbial species on the skin (they did not study the microbes in the intestine). What’s more, it turned out that those children who had a greater variety of microbes on their skin had significantly less allergies.
If we go out to nature, come into contact with plants, it will probably be conducive to greater biodiversity, which will protect us against civilization diseases. Sitting in the city can be devastating and depressing.
So we come to the fact that dirt is also useful?
Even Tytus de Zoo (the title character of the comic books by Henryk Jerzy Chmielewski, ie “Papcio Chmiel” – editor’s note) said that “wise people live in dirt”. Of course, I am telling you this in jest, so that the doctor does not persuade you to get dirty. But we can see that a child who gets sick often and then goes to a nursery or kindergarten, then his immune parameters go up. There is an accelerated maturation of the immune apparatus through contact with microorganisms. I would compare it to the army. If the army only practices theory or books, it will never learn to fight the enemy. And an army that is in constant contact with a living enemy is more efficient.
It is also said that a dirty child is a happy child. Young children are happy to rummage in the ground on a plot or in a garden.
Yes of course. There were other studies, also Finnish. Children who tended to play in the ground had better immunity parameters. I do not even know what is in this land, probably a whole lot of “old friends”, or bacteria that do not kill, but strengthen immunity. Sitting in the dirt is supportive. Of course, you have to remember that you have to wash afterwards, due to various parasites and unfavorable microbes, but playing with dirt is beneficial to some extent.
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It’s about washing a baby. Because I think the approach has changed in recent years, maybe decades. There used to be a daily bath, now a few times a week is enough.
Of course, it all depends on how dirty the baby is. But in fact, especially when it comes to infants, frequent washing of the microbiome from the skin can adversely affect immunity maturation. A small child, a baby, it is enough to bathe once a week. Of course, if it has to be done for hygiene purposes, then when it is needed. In bigger children it is necessary more often. And here, too, the question of children’s cosmetics should be asked, whether they are breaking the microbiota. Of course they do, so we should use dermocosmetics as little as possible or use the mildest.
I don’t know if you heard last year’s statement by Hollywood actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, who said that they only bathe their child when it is dirty. This statement was met with outrage or mockery, and it turns out that it is in line with the present art.
At the time when we created the rules of hygiene a hundred years ago, infectious diseases were the number one problem of humanity. There were no antibiotics, vaccines were just being developed, so taking care of daily hygiene was an absolute priority. In the meantime, we have learned to fight microbes with the methods I mentioned, we have learned to store food. We learned how to protect ourselves against microbes, and diseases of civilization came to the fore. We have achieved a high level of hygiene in terms of civilization and now we have to pay the price for it.
Now is the moment when this pendulum is going to move the other way and we will think of bacteria as friends. We have literally carved out this hygienic environment in a world dominated by bacteria. We have about 23 human genes, and our body is inhabited by tens of thousands of species of human bacteria, the number of which is estimated at a million. What is the disproportion of various proteins and molecules generated by bacterial cells, interacting with us. If we counted how many own cells and how many bacterial cells in our body, the ratio would be equally shocking. Human cells are about three to five percent and the rest are bacterial. Bacteria surround us and now we are trying to understand how we can harness them and live with them peacefully. So no longer domestos around, but this world to get used to and make friends with it.
We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time, we asked Orina Krajewska what, according to her, a holistic approach to health is. How to combine the three aspects – body, spirit and mind to enjoy balance and good health? You will hear about this and many other aspects of the topic in the latest episode of our podcast.