Monday, October 27, 2014

A Little Dirt Never Hurt

Have you ever heard the saying "A Little Dirt Never Hurt"?  When I hear this I can't help but think of my kids and memories of my sisters and I growing up on the farm.

A Little Dirt Never Hurt - Farm Kids are HealthierA Little Dirt Never Hurt - Farm Kids are Healthier

During fall harvest my kids spend many hours in the field with their Dad and I, which let's be honest, is a kind of dirty job.  After all, we are literally working in the dirt.  (My agronomy professor would be very disappointed in me for just calling soil dirt...)  But you know what, My Farmer and I, and are kids, wouldn't want it any other way!

Our kids love being outside and being apart of the farm.  They play in the sand and mud, they climb fences, they pick wildflowers, they help in the field and garden and they love exploring our acreage.  There have been many times I have had to tell my kids to not leave the mudroom and to take off all their clothes by the wash before they go anywhere in the house.  I love that they enjoy getting a little dirty and the truth is, it is good for them!

Being exposed to a little dirt truly makes people healthier by toughening up their immune systems.  There have actually been several studies that state that farm kids are healthier than those that live in urban areas.  The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology has found that non-farm families are diagnosed with asthma nearly twice as much as farm-dwelling families.  And as for hay fever, nearly four times as many non-farm family members are diagnosed than farm family members.  Animals can be beneficial too.  A study published last year in the Journal of Pediatrics suggests that babies raised around dogs are 31% more likely to be healthy.  And for you cat fans, 6% healthier.  Their research poses that animals help children's immune systems mature faster, because animals help them grow antibodies to better combat infections.

A Little Dirt Never Hurt - Animals Make Babies Healthier
Does a dirty farm dog like ours
make our kids even healthier???
So what do you think?  Do you believe that "A Little Dirt Never Hurt"?  Remember to Comment for a Cause!

31 Days from a Tractor Seat - A Little Dirt Never Hurt

(This post is a part of a 31 Days from a Tractor Seat series.  The best way to keep up with this series is to follow via email on the right sidebar of this post or by following on Bloglovin.  Also be sure to like the Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids Facebook page for daily updates from the field.)

Also, be sure to sure to sign up for the Iowa Blogger $150 Visa Giftcard giveaway!  Entries are open till November 1st.

10 comments:

  1. I've heard this before and it makes sense to me. I should really get dirty more often I guess!

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    1. You better go outside tomorrow and clean up the yard or something to at least get a little dirt under your fingernails :)

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  2. I miss the ability to "get dirty" that I had growing up on a farm! I still love going shingling with my dad, baling hay, or whatever...just to get dirty! I also agree that a little dirt never hurt anyone!

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    Replies
    1. Some of my favorite memories growing up with my sisters included getting "a little dirty" on the farm. We loved swimming in our creek that we had cows in!

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  3. Dirt definitely does not hurt!! A bit. Love your kids and their ability to just be kids!

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    1. They definitely are kids and LP is all boy! We'll see about MP being "all girl" as she gets older. I think we might have a tom-boy on our hands. She loves getting dirty and playing tractors with her brother.

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  4. Most days I don't let the kids enter the house unless they've taken everything down to their skivvies and head straight to the shower, too! I'm looking to update our basement entry, but all the Pinterest entryways don't show how to deal with the MUD that LITERALLY comes in our MUD entry!!! Have fun with the kids today!

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  5. My kids love to get dirty on the farm! My daycare provider embraces dirt too. To quote her, if you aren't dirty, you aren't having fun!"

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  6. The kitchen garden may serve as the central feature of an ornamental kitchen project, all-season landscape, or it may be little more than a humble vegetable plot.

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