Dirty girls are healthier?

We’ve all heard of the hygiene hypothesis. This is the theory that the cleaner you are, the sicker you are based on your lack of exposure to smaller amounts of germs throughout a day or a lifetime. It’s a well documented link between hygiene and higher rates of asthma, allergies and autoimmune disorders.

Sharyn Clough of the Oregon State University decided to see what role gender played. In the Social Science & Medicine article she points out that women have higher rates of allergies and asthma and many autoimmune disorders. Could it be that gender factors into the hygiene hypothesis?

In the article she documents how women have historically been socialized differently than boys to include a high value on hygiene. Girls are discouraged and in fact kept from getting dirty.

“Girls tend to be dressed more in clothing that is not supposed to get dirty, girls tend to paly indoors more than boys, and girl’s playtime is more often supervised by parents,” say Clough. “There is a significant difference in the types and amounts of germs that girls and boys are exposed to, and this might explain some f the health differences we find between women and men.”

Clough hopes that other scientists will be inspired by this data and go back to review their own theories about the hygiene hypothesis with gender consideration.

Source: Oregon State University, ScienceDaily