Children’s allergy and Nature activities

Fatema Miah :

This is as well as an interesting topic which is essential for all parents, carers and relatives of all children also for every individuals those who have direct or indirect contacts to children on personal or professional level best to be aware of such findings or knowledge.

This topic drew my attention because decade ago I came to realisation with my 1^st Toddler that I kept him extreme sanitised as I kept my residence extraordinary immaculately exhibition like and a kind of slight anxiety formed within me about it. Then I began to facilitate and endure Nature activities for my child then for both children and anyway, the Nature activities has become very enjoyable, fulfilling and desirable.

An American Doctor name Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein wrote and published a Book title ‘The Dirt Cure’ on children’s allergy. Here with her findings and research conclusion encouraging children to be exposed to the dirt for their benefits and parents not be afraid of dirt.

‘The Dirt Cure’ book she wrote is about children’s allergy. She named it “dirt cure” as the title of her book because dirt she believes dirt means three things they are; number one, ‘It’s eating nutrient-dense food from healthy soil’, number two ‘It’s being exposed to certain microbes’ and three ‘it’s spending time outdoors in nature’.

Further she goes on explaining how dirt can be effective to children the positive ways. She explains:

“In one teaspoon of soil there are more organisms than there are humans on our planet. Soil houses about 25 percent of the world’s biodiversity. What we also know from studies is that when children spend time in green environments – in natural playgrounds, for example, or in parks and forests – they perform better on standardized tests, they’re more creative, they’re happier and their cortisol levels are lower, so they’re calmer and less stressed. And I think that might be somewhat related to the kind of organisms they’re exposed to when they’re playing outdoors”.

Children’s allergy is part of the impetus for Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein’s Book ‘The Dirt Cure’. It was the beginning of her investigation into how food impacts children’s health, why children are so allergic today, and how this impacts their cognition, development and behaviour. She highlighted that it came to her understanding for one thing that food has changed dramatically in the last two decades and the Food is an effective thing to children from the way is grown basically from seed to sprout to plate, how it’s processed, and the kinds of additives that are used.

Answering to a question about ‘how microbial diversity in soil relates to food’ she explains that the organisms in soil have an impact on the health of our food. Organisms in soil is Part of what makes fruits and vegetables good for us living being. There is the ‘phytonutrients’ passed into the plants by the organisms what make cranberries red or coffee bitter. Phytonutrients are part of the plant’s immune systems. Organisms in the soil that known as pests actually they do ‘stimulate plants’ to make more ‘phytonutrients’. So these small stressors actually in a sense enhance our health. It emphasised that being exposed to different organisms improves the health of the plant therefore, it improves health of human and other living beings as well.

Further she stressed on, “We used to think that children who grew up on farms were healthier than children in urban environments because they were exposed to more microbes. But studies have found that the number of bacteria in urban environments and on farms is similar. The difference is the diversity of the bacteria. Microbial diversity seems to have a very powerful impact. Children’s immune systems are very social: They like to meet and greet a lot of things. It seems the more they meet and greet, the more likely they are to be in balance, and the less likely they are to let anyone microorganism grow out of control, as occurs with infection”.

On the bases of her research she wrote that “I think we need more outdoor and nature-based curriculum in schools because this actually benefits children from a health perspective and a learning perspective. Children are more focused and they perform better on tests after they’ve spent time outside in nature. In Japan there’s this idea called “Shinrin-yoku,” or forest bathing, which means taking short visits to the forest. It’s been shown to reduce inflammatory markers in the body and boost beneficial hormones. We know there are many physical benefits to children being outdoors and being physically active in nature”.

She was questioned on the outdoor into Nature activities recommendation and asked “As someone who lives in New York City, how do you manage to spend time in nature?”

There she replied that “We live in the Bronx, and although a lot of people may not realize it, the Bronx actually has a tremendous amount of parkland. We go to Van Cortlandt Park as well as the Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, which are all very close by. We live by Riverdale Park, which is a beautiful little forest. We visit Bear Mountain and Rockefeller State Park and go on beautiful hikes. And we go to Central Park. It’s actually not that difficult to get to a lot of these places for a day trip.”

When she was challenged that how does she incorporate the food philosophy she talked about into her life, she replied as such:

“When I was initially going through this journey, I lived in an apartment. But I found an office in the Bronx that had an empty lot out back and I decided to start a garden there. The soil was like dust, so we had to enrich it. And we planted a food forest. There were fruit trees. I grew cold-hardy kiwis, beans, melons, berries and then vegetables. We ate fresh produce that we grew in the garden. And I decided to keep chickens.”

She further replied: “Now I live in a house with a little yard so I keep the chickens in my garden and we grow vegetables there. I like to know where my food is coming from. I want to eat eggs from chickens that are scratching outside and exposed to the sun and nibbling on greens. So I did those things and although it was difficult, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it would be. It was far more accessible than most people would imagine. We also shop at farmers’ markets once or twice a week to stock up and add to what we’re growing.”

Can we be encouraged to adopt such activities into our lives after reading about Dr. Maya Shetreat-Klein?

Fatema Miah

Solihull, UK

fatemamiah@mail.com