> His point was that it is not healthy for babies to be "too clean" - that it is
> valuable for them to "eat a little dirt" as this primes their immune system
> to start fighting germs.
The author of this hypothesis is G A Rook (an immunologist). His paper is
entitled

Give Us This Day Our Daily Germs. Immunology Today. 19:113-116.

where he postulates that a lack of exposure to disease and dirt in childhood
- a practice we all seem to encourage so much in our Western cultures-
results in an inadequately developed immune system, making us all so much
more susceptible to infection. This was also reported in a popular science
magazine (Nature or similar) and was I think called "Let them eat dirt". Due
to my abysmal retrieval system for papers I cant find either, however I cant
remember him discussing at what stage this should apply, presumably not
children who are at an age where their immune system is  immature.

Regards
Cathy Fetherston RM MSC IBCLC

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