Unexpected benefits when children suck their thumbs and bite their nails

Children who regularly suck their fingers or bite their nails can reduce allergies caused by dog ​​and cat hair, dust, and pollen.

Like many children, 9-year-old Gracie Ingram (USA) often sucked her thumb when she was young. Like many other parents, father Chris could not stop his daughter. "We felt the need to stop that action immediately but she refused," he said.

Recently, a study in the journal Pediatrics has shown that children who bite their nails and suck their fingers have a reduced risk of developing allergies.

Nail biting stimulates the immune system in children.

According toCBS News, cScientists studied the thumb-sucking and nail-biting habits of 1,000 New Zealand children aged 5, 7, 9, and 11 and tested them for skin allergies when they were 13 and 32. The results showed that the risk of allergies in children who regularly sucked their thumbs or bit their nails was only about 38%, while the rate in children who did not have these habits was 49%.

"Touching dirt as a child is not a bad thing," the authorMalcolm Sears from McMaster University (Canada)explains. "If a child sucks his thumb or bites his nails, he stimulates his immune system by exposing himself to bacteria."This finding further confirms the "hygiene theory", which means that the cleaner a child lives, the more likely he or she is to develop allergies.

Sears said the study was not intended to encourage thumb-sucking or nail-biting. The American Dental Association warns that thumb-sucking, although a natural reflex in young children, can cause dental problems. "We don't endorse these habits, but they do have positive aspects," Sears concluded.

According to VNE