New Book Says Letting Kids Get Dirty Actually Makes Them Healthier

September 22, 2016

Stores are awash in antibacterial cleaning products and parents often demand antibiotics when their children have an ear infection or a bad cough. But a new book argues that an emphasis on cleanliness and overuse of antibiotics deprive children of microbes that, among other benefits, help develop their immune systems. Co-authors B. Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta join Here & Now‘s Meghna Chakrabarti to talk about “Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from an Oversanitized World.”