Natalie with her daughters

Dr. Natalie Caves is a doctor living and working here in Hong Kong. She is originally from Northern Ireland. Natalie has three young daughters. She insists on proper hygiene at work. However, she actually encourages her daughters to get messy while playing.

"Getting out there, getting down and getting dirty - there does seem to be a fear of doing that," she says.

Balance
"Balance is probably the right word. I don't think anybody would suggest it's a good thing to live in filth and squalor. And some of the biggest benefits in healthcare throughout the world have been hygiene-related. Being cleaner has without a doubt improved people's health. But there is a balance to that and to be completely dirt-free has its drawbacks as well.

Natalie's daughter having fun

Get dirty!
There are benefits to playing outside in normal everyday common garden dirt. It's fun. It can also be quite important for children's development. They learn while they play. Getting outside and being able to crawl around in the grass can encourage their curiosity and creativity.

And if we're too clean, we don't give our immune systems enough of a chance to deal with foreign invaders. So, to develop an efficient immune system, it is actually important that we are exposed to some level of dirt.

Homes are not always clean
And also, inside is not always as clean as you think it is. Just because something looks clean and shiny doesn't mean there aren't micro organisms crawling all over it. We're living in air con all the time in Hong Kong. All kinds of germs can live in air cons. These germs get released into the atmosphere.

Wash your hands
Be sensible about it. Get outside and have fun getting messy. Then come home and wash your hands. Use plain soap and water. That's better than antibacterial products like gels.

The typical human has approximately 90 trillion microbes. So not all bugs are bad bugs. There are bugs that help maintain our immune system and keep us healthy. Trying to create a falsely sterile environment for people to live in is not practical. You can lose things that help us as well as harm us."

For more information, here is article from the New York Times about how getting dirty is actually good for us.