Could household disinfectants be making our children fat?

Household disinfectants seem like such a good idea, especially when you have children — after all, children make messes, and killing germs helps keep children healthy, right? Not always, it turns out. Sometimes germs actually keep us healthy and keep us at a healthy weight. More and more, we are learning that not all bacteria are bad. In fact, the bacteria that live naturally in and on our bodies, especially in our digestive tracts, are crucial for health. When we mess with those bacteria, it increases the risk of many problems, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer — and obesity. Researchers from Canada used data from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study to see if there was a connection between the use of household disinfectants by mothers and the weight of their children. They found that indeed, when mothers used household disinfectants (most commonly multi-surface cleaners, hand soap, and spray air fresheners), their children were more likely to be overweight or obese at age 3. By looking at stool samples from the children when they were infants, they found that this increased risk seemed to be related to a change in the bacteria in the digestive tract. The children whose mothers used disinfectants had less of the “healthier” bacteria. When families use disinfectants, there are fewer bacteria in the house, obviously. Since children spend most of their life indoors, this mea...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Children's Health Parenting Source Type: blogs