AAurora Nicola, 5, is having a normal day at nursery. She makes a cake of sand and clay, and adds carrots, potatoes and meat to it. “It’s overcooked,” she says, sprinkling water and then adding another handful of sand. “The more sugar, the better it tastes,” she says. A handful of clay goes in and the dish evolves into a chocolate cake.
Aki Sinkkonen, principal scientist at the Finnish Natural Resources Institute, is keeping tabs on the matter. He’s also very interested in Aurora’s cake, but for different reasons. “Excellent,” he says, admiring the way she mixes soil, sand and leaves and then applies them to her face. “She really puts her hands into it.”
This might be a problem for hygiene-conscious kindergartens, but at the Humbula daycare center in Lahti, north of Helsinki, children are encouraged to fly. via finland, 43 day care centres A total of €1 million (£830,000) has been awarded to rewild and increase children’s exposure to microscopic biodiversity – such as bacteria and fungi – that live in nature.
We already know that access to the outdoors is important for children and their development. But this study goes one step further. It is part of a A growing body of research Connecting two layers of biodiversity. There is the outer layer – the most common view of biodiversity, which consists of soil, water, plants, animals and microbial life, living in the forest, the playground (or any other environment). Then there is the endophyte: the biodiversity that lives in and on the human body, including the intestines, skin and airways.
Scientists increasingly realize that our health is closely linked to our surroundings, and to the environmental health of the world around us. The first 1,000 days of a person’s life – when the brain and body are in a phase of rapid development – are especially crucial.
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Saija Kilke, early childhood teacher, in Humbola, with Aurora Nikola (left) and Evi Paronen (right)
Put children in charge
The kindergarten explores this relationship through a new experiment – including digging up a patch of forest floor, and seeing how exposure changes children’s health. In the fall, the daycare center — with 180 children and 50 staff — looks more like an allotment run by children.
The compost is fed with old leaves and weeds, then used to grow beets, carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini and chili peppers. Now there is only parsley left, as winter is approaching and everything else has been eaten. But the children remain outside.
The plants, deadwood and soil in the daycare center were specially selected for their rich microbiodiversity. They also excavated and imported a giant living carpet from the forest floor, 20-40 cm deep and 10 square metres. It has blueberries, cranberries and algae growing on it to encourage children to forage for food, find insects and learn about nature.
“This area wasn’t forested 200 years ago, so it’s an alternative,” Sinkkonen says. In the wetland area, they can balance on rocks and play among a variety of plants. Five years ago, it was a gravel parking lot.
This kindergarten has been included in a two-year study looking at how biodiversity improvements affect the microbial composition of children’s skin, saliva and faeces. The study was the first of its kind. Blood samples were taken to examine immune defences, and a short questionnaire about infectious diseases was filled out every three months. In total, 75 children aged three to five years in 10 urban daycare centers participated in the study. She compared “reconstructed” daycare centers like these with others covered in asphalt, sand, gravel and plastic mats.
A year later, I found out Children who play in green kindergartens have less disease-causing bacteria – e.g Streptococcus – On their skin, and stronger immune defenses. Gut microorganisms showed low levels of Clostridium Bacteria – associated with inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, and infections such as sepsis and food poisoning. Within 28 days, she found an increase in the number of cells in the blood – called regulatory T cells – that protect the body against autoimmune diseases. last Research has shown that in just two weeks Children’s immune system regulation can be improved by playing in a sandpit rich in garden soil.
The human body contains trillions of bacteria, viruses and fungi, which are essential to how we function. Research shows that external microbiota (such as bacteria and fungi) are transferred into the body through touch or ingestion.
Even breathing is important: air is important Your microbiomeWhich is related to the types of trees and plants found in the surrounding area. Soil – home to 90% of the world’s fungi – also feeds the microbiome in the air.
Scientists see one reason Many people now suffer from allergies This is because they were not exposed to microbes that are naturally found in the environment at an early age. The “old friends” hypothesis says that humans evolved alongside microbes in the air, plants and soil. The body can exchange beneficial microbes (bacteria and fungi, for example) with the natural world to stay healthy.
“It’s good for national health,” says Marja Roslund, a scientist at the Natural Resources Institute of Finland. “Immune-mediated diseases are expensive. Even a small reduction in the burden of these diseases is good for national health and the economy.”
Previous research She found that early exposure to green spaces was linked to a healthy immune system, but it was not clear whether this was a cause or an association. The Finnish study suggests that it may be causal. that Australian study These results, published last year, confirmed that children who play with a range of different soil types have better gut health and a stronger immune system.
Move inside out
Interest in bringing dirt and nature into nurseries is spreading. In Helsinki, the Poutapilvi-Puimuri daycare center is being redesigned with the help of a €30,000 (£25,000) government grant. It currently looks like a construction site with two excavators working, but soon there will be trees, flowers, rocks, farms, sand pits and a grassy area for games. “The architects told us we wanted nature in it,” says Marjo Valimaki-Sari, the center’s director.
“We take the action from the inside out,” says Valimaki-Saari. “We want to show the children nature so they can learn about it.”
Kindergartens provide further evidence of how important healthy ecosystems are to human health. With the loss of biodiversity, habitats and wild species across the planet, there are huge potential implications for human well-being. Increasing on-site biodiversity can be profitable for children’s health and the environment.
The University of Sheffield has conducted research into installing green barriers around school playgrounds to prevent air pollution from harming children’s health. Based on that study, she established Hunters Barr Infant School in Sheffield 70 meter fence Of the plants and shrubs that surround the playground near a busy road. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and concentrations were in the ballpark Reduced by 13% Six months after planting, further declines are expected as the hedge matures.
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Margot Valimaki-Sari, head of the daycare center Butabilvi-Boimori, helps Mikael (right) and Eero look for apples
“More and more people are saying they want to create these nurseries in their cities,” says Roslund. Visitors from Norway, Iceland and Denmark came to see how they could replicate the Finnish model in their homeland. “I don’t want to see rubber mats in any kindergarten,” Sinkkonen says.
Find more Age of Extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage.