Sickness....have you ever noticed

[kimmikayb]

When I was growing up (I'm 40) I had a stomach bug maybe twice...seriously my whole childhood I didn't get sick, nor did my sister or classmates. We had commen colds and chicken pox went through the school a couple of times.

Fast forward to now...my kids are lucky if they don't get the stomach bug more then twice a year, for sure at least twice. Same with their classmates. Strep is always present in the school too.

What has changed in 25 years to cause more sickness? Especially with the good ol' GI tract? I can always count on getting any stomach bug my kids bring home, DH too. I spoke with the school nurse and it's not my imagination, kids are sick more now. Diet maybe?

What do you think? I think I'll blame a lack of WDW trips!! BUT my DH was sick down there last Feb!!

 

[Bob Slydell]

I blame Purell

 

[kimmikayb]

Hi Bob, very cute kids!

I'm not sure if you are joking or not....but I think that may have something to do with it! Are we too clean? I remember seeing something not too long ago about a doctor who lets his baby crawl on dirty floors and outside, exposing him to germs. He said it helps to keep him healthier.

I'm guilty of Germ X...maybe that's why we all throw up so much now!

 

[sugarpie]

I'm 30 & I guess I don't agree. I had the stomach "flu" almost every year when I was younger.

 

[Rachie0507]

I said that same thing to my mom--that I never got sick as often as my children. She told me I did get sick, I just don't remember it.

 

[Crankyshank]

over prescribed antibiotics and antibacterial soaps

 

[Buckalew11]

I guess I'm too dirty, LOL, because DD (12 and knock on wood) has never had a stomach bug or an ear infection! I am very thankful too!!

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

It's just the opposite for me. I was a sickly kid. I was always catching something and missed a ton of school. As an adult, I never get sick (though I do use zinc whenever I'm exposed to somebody who is ill) and my daughter has had perhaps two or three colds in her 15 years and the stomach flu I think once.

 

[GoodFairies]

Not Purell probably, because it's my understanding that that's just ethanol. But definitely abuse and overuse of antibiotics and antibacterial products when there is no need.

For stomach issues, I'm not convinced people always have what they think they have. A stomach can get upset for a number of non-pathogen related reasons.

Also, a regular soap and water hand wash before eating will help a lot. I hardly ever see parents or kids make a trip to the bathroom before eating in restaurants, so you know they don't do it at home either. There is really no reason for a stomach "thing" to visit every person in a whole household when simple handwashing will prevent it.

ETA: But I did get sick plenty when I was a kid. I have better habits now

 

[Christine]

Well, I am 42 and I remember getting *many* stomach viruses as a kid. Predominantly with a lot of vomiting versus coming out the other end! Knock on wood, it has been a very rare occurrance as an adult.

Also, as I child, I got a TON of sore throats. They didn't have rapid strep tests back then and many doctors opted to treat the sore throat rather than bother with the test (which took 3 days). So, I think I probably had many cases of strep throat, I just didn't know it. As an adult, I had it one time.

 

[Christine]

I also should have added that "back when I was a kid" we just didn't go out as much as we do now. Heck, we didn't even get a shopping mall until I was 13 and then we had to drive over 30 minutes to get there. Going out to eat was "once in awhile", going to the mall was once a month. The only regular thing we really every did was go to the grocery store.

Think about it how much more your kids get "out there" these days. I know I probably run to Target two times a week, a restaurant once or twice a week, grocery store, shopping mall, etc. All of this raises your kids' exposure to germs tons more than, say, 20-30 years ago. Especially eating out.

 

[EthansMom]

OP, I know exactly what you mean! As a kid, my brother was always sick with pnuemonia, allergies, ear infections, etc... But he was a rarity. Most kids we knew were as healthy as could be. I think I went several years inbetween pediatrician's appointments because I was rarely sick.

Flash forward to today and not only are my kids constantly sick, but so are many of their friends and classmates. In my son's Kindergarten class probably 1/3 of the kids have asthma and/or respiratory problems and another 2-3 have extreme allergies.

Personally, I think some of it may be that years of steroids/antibiotics/other meds. have created super-viruses that are more difficult for our immune systems to fight off. Also, I think that modern medecine is allowing many people with weaker immune systems to live long enough to procreate and pass on their predisposition to illnesses.

In my brother's case, he would have died as an infant if he had been born 50 or 60 years ago. Yet, he has lived long enough to have a daughter who has the same health problems that my brother has always suffered from.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

over prescribed antibiotics and antibacterial soaps

I totally agree. But according to our Pediatrician: "We have systematically killed all the good bacteria with the bad. We have over perscribed antibiotics and most bacteria are becoming resistent, and we in turn have anti-bacterialized ourselves so much that we have antibodies that have no ability to fight off any viruses we come in contact with."

But because of this, I still make my kids carry wipes in their lunch box, and we do use them when we go to Walmart and such. I began driving the kids to school everyday last year and I have to say that my kids have had 1/2 the sicknesses that we have had in the past. I'm not sure if there is any coorelation or not, but just think about all that stale air that every child is breathing with no open windows. I think it is just an incubator for sicknesses.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Over use of antibiotics/antibacterial products. Larger and more crowded areas(how big was your school compared to your kids). Kids going to school with a does of tylenol to mask the fever for a few hours so parents can go to work.

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Kids going to school with a does of tylenol to mask the fever for a few hours so parents can go to work.

This is my biggest pet peeve. You know this agrevates me more than anything else in the world. If your kids are sick, even a little sick, keep them home. My kids don't want what your kids have. And I nor my DH wants it either. I can't stand when parents have little or no regard for their child or any of the hundreds of other children that have been exposed because they had a little fever. A fever is a fever, keep them home, and most if not all schools have rules about this, but some parents just disregard it and go to work. I am sorry but no one is that important in their job that they can't take a day off for their kid being sick.