It is a fact of life that kids with allergies are increasing in numbers and some in the medical profession blame the fascination with hygiene that rules many young lives. Part of the process of building the body's immune system is exposure to environmental antigens. These " Germs " serve a purpose in exposing the natural body defences to attack and allowing them to develop the immunity that serves them well in later life.
The problem is that we have come to believe that children must be protected from all contact with the natural antigens that exist in nature. In the days when every house had a backyard, kids played in the dirt and moved about the neighbourhood in groups. They climbed trees and undertook activities that would today be banned on hygiene grounds.
Pre-schools and the entire education system practices a regime of hand washing and ultra cleanliness that is designed to remove hazards, but in the process it is shielding children from the very protection that nature devised by building up their natural defences. The degree of cleanliness that we see as being a health asset is actually creating an entry for disease.
Now we are faced with a new decree from the National Health and Medical Research Council ( NHMRC ) which suggests that the blowing out of candles on birthday cakes should be banned.
The thinking seems to be that the act of blowing out candles involved the spread of pathogens on the breath of the birthday child. It is suggested that in place of candles on a shared cake, the child be presented with a cup cake containing a single candle. The joy of blowing out a candle is thus retained - but done well away from any chance of contaminating other children.
Fortunately, this is a suggestion, not an edict. We will not see " the cup cake police " raiding birthday events and confiscating birthday cakes with candles. Hopefully, common sense will prevail and this age old practice will still bring joy to those celebrating a birthday.
This would be a good time for a re-think on this cleanliness craze. Are we pushing the limits too far - and do we really want to eliminate all those minor infections that are part and parcel of the passage of childhood to adulthood ?
It seems that the path to good health does not require an absolutely sterile environment !
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