I Think This Is So True!

Growing up I was constantly in the woods, on three sides of where I grew were woods and pastures and cow patties.

How a radical experiment to bring a forest into a preschool transformed children’s health

In Finland, kindergartens are exposing children to more mud, wild plants and moss - and finding changes to their health that show how crucial biodiversity is to wellbeing

The Guardian

29 Oct 2025

Aurora Nikula, 5, is having a normal day at her nursery. She is making a cake out of sand and mud, adding in make-believe carrots, potatoes and meat. “It’s overcooked,” she says as she splashes water in, then adds another dollop of sand. “More sugar, it tastes better,” she says. A handful of mud goes in, and the dish evolves into a chocolate cake.

Aki Sinkkonen, a principal scientist with the Natural Resources Institute Finland, is watching. He’s also very interested in Aurora’s cake, but for different reasons. “Perfect,” he says, admiring the way she is mixing soil, sand and leaves and then putting it on her face. “She’s really getting her hands in it.”

[...]

We already know that access to the outdoors is important for children and their development. But this study goes one step further. It is part of a growing body of research linking two layers of biodiversity. There is the outer layer – the more familiar vision of biodiversity, made up of soil, water, plants, animals and microbial life, that lives in the forest, playground (or any other environment). And then there is the inner layer: the biodiversity that lives within and upon the human body, including the gut, skin and airways.

Increasingly, scientists are learning that our health is intimately linked to our surroundings, and to the ecological health of the world around us. The first 1,000 days of human life – when the brain and body are most rapidly developing – are considered particularly crucial.

You all have seen ads for cleaning produces... kills 99% of the germs! The ads have created a fear of germs or mysophobia. We probably all know someone who carries around bleach wipes! Kill those germs!

While at the same time there is a rise in allergies! What did the researchers find?

A year later, it found children playing in the green kindergartens had less disease-causing bacteria – such as Streptococcus – on their skin, and stronger immune defences. Their gut microbiota showed reduced levels of Clostridium bacteria – associated with inflammatory bowel disease, colitis and infections such as sepsis and botulism. Within 28 days it found an increase in cells in the blood – called T regulatory cells – that protect the body from autoimmune diseases. Other research showed that in just two weeks children’s immune system regulation could be improved by playing in a sandpit enriched with garden soil.

Now look at this...

Peanut Allergy Rates Plummet 10 Years After AAP Early Introduction Guidelines

New data show peanut allergy rates have dropped sharply since early introduction guidelines, reducing 27% and 43% after the 2015 and 2017 guidelines, respectively.

Author(s)Stanislaw J. Gabryszewski, MD, PhD, Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, Vivian P Hernandez-Trujillo, MD

HCPLive®

October 30, 2025

New data show a sharp decline in peanut and food allergy prevalence, but experts say the real work is just beginning.

A decade after the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) endorsed early peanut introduction, new real-world data suggest those recommendations are paying off.

A study led by David Hill, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia analyzed data from more than 85,000 children across nearly 50 pediatric practices and found a 27% drop in peanut allergies following the 2015 early introduction guidelines (P <.0001), along with a 43% decrease after the 2017 addendum (P <.0001). Rates of any IgE-mediated food allergy also fell by more than a third, offering promise for food allergy prevention.

The findings, published in Pediatrics, provide the first large-scale evidence that national policy changes inspired by the landmark LEAP trial have translated into measurable real-world benefits. The LEAP study, published in 2015, demonstrated that infants who were introduced to peanuts early and kept them in their diet were significantly less likely to develop a peanut allergy later in life.

How many time have you heard parents say that they are not allowing their children to eat peanuts because they don't want there to get a peanut allergy... the exact opposite of what they should be doing!

Throw the kids outside! Let them play out in the dirt, let them drink from the garden hose, and let them use their imagination!