Play Away

It's only a relatively small study involving 75 children in 2 Finnish cities but it appears that you can improve health by simply replacing the gravel in traditional playgrounds with vegetation and trees (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/14/greener-play-areas-boost-childrens-immune-systems-research-finds). The study showed that, in as little as 1 month, there was a marked improvement in the children's immune systems. The scientists put this down to the greenery increasing the range of microbes on the skin and in the guts of their subjects. They related this to the 'hygiene hypothesis'. This idea sees the increase in autoimmune diseases (where the body's immune system inadvertently attacks itself) evident in some populations of children (e.g. asthma), as being a consequence of growing up in a relatively sterile environment. The kids simply don't get mucky enough to develop an appropriately functioning immune system. This would seem (if supported in larger studies) to be an easy change that could improve city playgrounds. Of course, going into the countryside might well be a better option. One possible additional side-effect of Covid-19 restrictions, would be limiting children's exposure to a wide range of microbes with potentially beneficial effects as their immune systems develop. So we might well see increases in children's autoimmune diseases in the future.