Are we making ourselves fragile as a thin glass vase?

Question

Studies recently have shown that as a result of our society’s fantasy with cleanliness children are growing up with weak immune systems. This is because their parents have been keeping the environment so sterile that when they do come in contact with disease they have no way to fight it.

Keeping this in mind is our safety culture making us weak?

What I mean is this, in the past there were no weight restrictions on lifting things (unlike now where at work you are no allowed to lift anymore than 20 kg), there were no air bag systems or ABS in cars, There was no very effective anti-bacterial chemicals, etc.

So is our health and safety culture making us as a race (the western world) weaker and more fragile or is it helping us to grow stronger? And what (if anything) should be done about it?

PLEASE do not quote injury statistics to back up your argument. That is not the point of the question.

Serious answers only and please explain your answers.

I thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Delightful question.
Germs are the imagined enemy.
Moms, Dads, and schools are being targeted and manipulated by the manufacturers of the products designed to kill germs/bacteria and viruses.
I agree wholeheartedly that we are creating very helpless indiviuals with no immune systems.
I grew up in a literal OCD household.
My Mom still doesn't let children sit on her furniture when they visit her house, and she carries a can of Lysol with her when she visits our house.
I taught preschool until 5 years ago when I became too ill to do so. We teachers were made to bleach the toys in our classrooms once a week. It was mandatory to use the skin sanitizers on ourselves and our students at each bathroom break and before feeding the kids. We used a pine-scented product on the floors at the end of the day.
I have suffered from severe allergies/asthma all my life and developed an AutoImmune disease in my early 40s.
I'm a "Baby Boomer' (hate that phrase) and we are the first generation to be truly exposed to all the neurotic cleanliness, immunizations and antibiotics. We are also the sickest generation to date, and the ones who most utilize the Social Security Disability benefits. Coincidence? I think not.
My kids live in a decidedly germy house. I clean regularly, but I use only Baking Soda ,vinegar and rubbing alcohol. The kids almost never get sick.
My Grandma used to say "Everybody has to eat a peck of dirt before they die, if they want to stay healthy 'til then".
I think she was right on.

Answer 2

I believe that in part, yes, all of these manufactured defenses make our actual bodies less able to defend themselves. However it is note-worthy that in general, people are getting sick less, and the severity of their sickness is usually minor compared to the days of old when a cold could kill you.

There are things you can do to help boost your own body's ability to defend itself though. Proper nutrition is a major factor in this, keeping your body pumped full of essential vitamins and minerals means that your body has what it needs to be stronger and better all around. Today's vaccinations have successfully eliminated or drastically reduced the presence of diseases that used to claim hundreds, if not thousands of lives.

I suppose what I'm saying is, yes, if we rely on these antibacterial soaps and other defenses and do not do our part to keep our own bodies in shape to fight for themselves, we may perhaps be making our own immune systems weaker.

Answer 3

to quickly answer to your very long question.

there seems to be a whole lot of people dying in africa from being filthy, poor and hungry.

i'll take the western countries, thanks!