Very frequent habits among young children like suck your finger and eat your nails They are very difficult to remove, and it is difficult to find something positive, but they have an unexpected benefit: protects against allergies.
Of course, this does not mean that we encourage children to do so or reinforce those behaviors, or any of them, if they already do, but as a new study published in the journal Pediatrics has been released, doing so increases early exposure to allergens, which leads to a lower risk of developing allergies.
Sucking is one of the primary reflexes of babies, which they even put into practice from before birth. It is feasible to see the baby on the ultrasound with the finger inside the mouth to meet that need. After birth, they still suck their fingers and many continue in childhood for longer than recommended with serious consequences for oral health.
But according to a study by researchers at the University of Otago in Dunedin (New Zealand), and coinciding with the theory of hygiene, thumb sucking as well as later nail-eating, something that 41% of children do With ages between 3 and 7 years, increases microbial exposure and affects the immune system and protecting babies against the development of allergic reactions.
More than one million cases of children were analyzed when they turned 5, 7, 9 and 11 years old. Years later, at the age of 13 and 32 they were tested for allergy to assess that, subsequently, they underwent different allergy tests at age 13 and 32 to assess whether these habits produced atopic sensitization.
31 percent of children sucked their fingers or ate their nails. These children had lower risk of atopy at 13 and 32 years. Even children who had both habits had less risk than those who only did one of the two things. Only 40% of children who sucked their thumbs or ate their nails had an allergy.
In relation to asthma and hay fever there was no link at any age.
