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Study Shows Thumb-Sucking and Nail-Biting Can Be Good For Kids
HughPickens.com writes: Perri Klass M.D. writes in the NYT that according to a new study of children aged 5 to 11, thumb-suckers and nail-biters were less likely to have positive allergic skin tests later in life. In the study, parents were asked about their children's nail-biting and thumb-sucking habits when the children were 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old. skin testing for allergic sensitization to a range of common allergens including dust mites, grass, cats, dogs, horses and common molds was done when the children were 13 years old, and then later when they were 32. The study found that children who frequently sucked a thumb or bit their nails were significantly less likely to have positive allergic skin tests both at 13 and again at 32. Children with both habits were even less likely to have a positive skin test than those with only one of the habits. The question of such a connection arose because of the so-called hygiene hypothesis, an idea originally formulated in 1989, that there may be a link between atopic disease -- the revved-up action of the immune system responsible for eczema, asthma and allergy -- and a lack of exposure to various microbes early in life. Some exposure to germs, the argument goes, may help program a child's immune system to fight disease, rather than develop allergies. "The hygiene hypothesis is interesting because it suggests that lifestyle factors may be responsible for the rise in allergic diseases in recent decades," says Robert J. Hancox. "Obviously hygiene has very many benefits, but perhaps this is a downside. The hygiene hypothesis is still unproven and controversial, but this is another piece of evidence that it could be true." Although the results do not suggest that kids should take up these habits, the findings do suggest the habits help protect against allergies that persist into adulthood.
but if you don't, don't.
I'm asking for a friend.
Wanking is good for you. Biting your nails is good for you. What a waste of time those school hygiene talks were
In my childhood I bit my nails. My parents abused me and tried to wean from a habit. But if they knew about its helpfulness, their opinion had been change. Or not. Because this study colour me weird.
https://regmedia.co.uk/2015/07...
bang!
Newsflash! Behaviors that evolve over time do so because they improve the survival of the species.
NYT spends as many inches on name dropping the researchers as it does explaining the research. The NHS has released an article that's a little better IMO.
tl;dr Research paper shows correlation between nail biting in childhood and incidence of allergies in later life, does not elaborate on causal relationship. Results hailed as "common sense" by the usual crowd.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
If the hypothesis is right, the point isn't the thumb-sucking or nail-biting, it's the exposure to bacteria, and there's a ton of other ways to do that.
Thumb-sucking in particular often correlates with tooth alignment issues later in life, so perhaps just stop sterilizing the shit out of everything around your kid and they'll get the same benefit without needing braces later?
-Styopa
You cannot check this for causation. Does the habit cause later protection, or does per-existing protection cause the habit? No way of doing a controlled study, as feeding nails to random children (even own nails) can be frowned upon.
Anyway, if it can help reduce the all-encompassing parent anxiety about anything their precious child does, it's welcome.
Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
Sucking thumbs won't make you immune to allergies.. but it does make it quite likely you'll need dental work, the upper teeth get pushed out, the lower teeth pushed back, and if done regularly can result in requiring a rickanator to correct the jaw position and speech pathology to correct speech. If at all possible, get a pile of similar soothers, rotate them to dissuade a preference, and wean off as the kid gets around 4. No problems then, probably get just as much dirt in their mouth as kids will be dropping them all the time anyway.
!Equality through palindromes semordnilap hguorht ytilauqE!
The hygiene hypothesis is still unproven and controversial
That's not quite correct; "unproven" is a confusing word here. It's more of an "it depends" situation, rather than a "true/false" situation.
The hygiene hypothesis can be sort-of demonstrated in some situations (e.g. reduced allergic response to peanuts in mice via oral sensitisation with very low amounts of CpG-coated peanut extract), and rejected in others (e.g. the parasitic worm H. polygyrus suppresses the adaptive immune response).
Ask me about repetitive DNA
Saying it originated in 1989 is like saying gravity originated in the 1600s with Newton, or like saying the idea of America originated with Columbus.
I personally know people who heard variations on the "hygiene hypothesis" from doctors in the 70s, although maybe nobody managed to get it published until later. But anybody with a brain would have tossed variations on it around casually in conversation once they understood we could build up resistance to things. Contrary to the certainty of all of us today, there really were smart people before we were around.
Real lawyers write in C++
*Thumb* sucking is good for kids. Ooops, the catholic church got it all wrong!
problem solved
It's also possible that we find out that mucophagy is beneficial to our health too.
Damn, evolution, you gross!
So less allergies, and the tradeoff is thousands of dollars in orthodontia work. Ahh the decisions to make as a parent.
... makes you stronger.
Ever seen any kids. See where they put their hands? This will inderectly make their resistance stronger. And that leads to less illness.
Together with better healthcare which means kids don't die and are already strong enough to battle those virusses and bacteria means better health.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
A study done years ago suggested it gives the same benefits.
Thumb sucking can mess up how your teeth come in.
And sometimes mess up your thumbnail into short weird things :(.
Nail-biters and thumb-suckers have higher exposure to allergens due to putting their dirty fingers in their mouth. That's it.
The article makes it sound like there's some kind of magic unknown link between the two. Those behaviors are classic indicators of psychological problems and are absolutely not a good thing.
I don't need to re-clarify the many points already made here about thumb make-out sessions ruin teeth or chewing on nails makes you look like you have mutant finger nails, ect. I agree with all of it.
The point I will make is this just a new, generational way to shovel new, cute 'alternative-parenting' parents bullshit into stop their kids from having bad habits? Just plain ridiculous.
If chewing on my toe jammed crusted nails, wiping my own shit under my nose like smelling salts, washing my face with soap and my own urine, drinking my own respiratory infection phlegm like Rocky Balboa raw egg shakes, eating my own mucus boogers would stop me from having real deal shit like cancer or some other terminal disease, then sign me up. Otherwise, show me out to get researching funding for outrageous hypothesis ideas. Sounds like a hoot!
Yes, because your posts are stupid and you should feel bad.
Just eat more dirt.
--
I was a beta tester for dirt. We never did get all the bugs out.
Study Shows Thumb-Sucking and Nail-Biting Can Be Good For Kids
What about Adults?
That wasn't a thumb that you were sucking, and it wasn't yours.
If we bathe in mud and dirt we will be invincible!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Study Shows Sucking and Boot-Licking Pays off for Politicians
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
When you are nervous, you bite your nails or suck your thumb. When you are nervous, your body produces more cortisol. Cortisol suppresses the immune response. Could this just be a correlation based on the common factor of general anxiety levels?
So finally "Science" gets round to discovering what intelligent people have known since year dot. "Let your kids ply in the dirt". Obviously not in heavily polluted poisonous dirt but in good old regular dirt. Take them a farm when they're small and get them to play with the goats/chickens/cows etc. Eat a few bugs/worms, get stung by the odd bee, wasp etc. etc.
All those bacteria/germs/microbes will get into their systems and their immune system will learn how to cope and will grow up string and functioning.
Keeping them indoors wrapped up in sterilised swaddling in a house full of over sanitised, heavily cleansed surfaces will produce yet another allergy ridden, bed wetting, limp wristed, hipster with dietary issues and no intestinal fortitude.
Real humans play in the dirt !
Well, You have to keep a loose control over your child. Let them run, fall down, bump into things.
They learn. Eating dirt? not so much, but chewing grass tips, straw, and picking vegetables/fruits is pretty good exposure...
Also: DO NOT freak out when the kids decide to eat a bug, or pick up a froot loop from the floor and gobble it.
Parents freaking out will give the kids complex complexes about such things. Let the 5-second rule endure,
and clean your floors!
How many of you parents who have kids actually dust the house weekly? Vacuum/dust-blast the computer?
Yes, behind the ginormous tv and in all that wiring!
So if the house is clean, let the kid be a kid.
And the pets have to be outdoors some, with the kids, so they all get exposed to low-oncentration allergens and stuff.
I always thought most little girls who thumb sucked were pretty good at sulking dick. They use their tongue good with wierd movements. My niece who always had a pacifier growing up and I could tell on her face when she sucked on my shaft, it was very soothing
Alternate headline: Study Shows Evolved Pervasive Behavior is Adaptive
Protip: Next time, try to not scream, "Yeah, baby!! Harder!! Harder!! Shove it all the way in!!"
The study only says that kids who such thumb and bit may develop fewer allergies. This does not mean that there are no other side effects and it is overall good for them. The referenced article has a proper title, "Thumb Suckers and Nail Biters May Develop Fewer Allergies".