Last week Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis made news after they revealed that they do not bathe themselves and their children daily. Now it seems the idea of taking a bath daily has been so normalised that the couple’s statement may seem out of the ordinary. However, experts suggest that Kunis and Kutcher’s hygiene-maintaining practice may not be wrong after all.
For kids and infants, Dr. Andrew Doyle, a pediatrician at Wellstar Health System in Marietta, Georgia, recommends cleaning with soap once or twice a week, according to a CNN report. Professor emerita of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Elaine Larson says, if you are not going out daily and coming in contact with new germs it is alright to not take baths regularly. With the coronavirus pandemic reducing the amount of times humans go out, we are living in the same environment and not coming in contact with unfamiliar germs that need to be washed away, said Larson.
Larson mentioned that the idea of daily bathing emerged as a part of modern hygiene practices which has been responsible for preventing the spread of any diseases. However, most people in developed countries, like the US, where Kunis and Kutcher reside, have access to clean water, and clean places to live which makes the practice of daily bathing not so much for preventing diseases. These days daily bathing is more about personal preference and for “aesthetic purposes, to look and smell clean,” Larson told CNN.
The special lecturer at the Columbia School of Nursing also told the media organisation that daily bathing may not be that beneficial these days and can also reverse some of the defence mechanisms of the body. Taking a bath daily can actually reduce the normal defense mechanisms that the skin has against organisms and infections. Larson further mentioned that if a person cleans too often and gets their skin dried out, they are more likely to carry germs and so forth.
Assistant professor of dermatology at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, Dr Arielle Nagler told CNN that the same effect can occur if one sanitises or washes their hands too often, considering how the pandemic has propelled the habit. People who have dry skin or conditions like eczema should not take long and excessive showers, according to Nagler.
Keywords: Mila Kunis , Ashton Kutcher, Hollywood, Bathing, Hygiene, United States, Child Healthcare, Pandemic, Clean Water, Cleanliness, Skin Barrier, Dermatology, Health
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