Daycare Children's Immune System Improved Thanks to Mini Forest in Finland

A daycare in Finland experimented a mini forest's undergrowth cared by kids themselves, and findings suggest that it changed a kids' immune system in at least a month.

Daycare workers had rolled out a lawn and planting forest undergrowth like dwarf heather and blueberries for children to tend to and care. Study shows that diversity of microbes in the guts and on skin of young kids are healthier than standard urban daycares in other cities using yards of pavement, tile and gravel.

Children ages 3-5 years old in Finland had developed increased T-cells and other essential immune markers in their blood within 28 days.

Environmental scientist Marja Roslund from the University of Helsinki explained in their 2020 study that "intestinal microbiota of children who received greenery was similar to the intestinal microbiota of children visiting the forest every day."

Green Space and Well-Functioning Immune System

(Photo : Photo by Stephane L'hostis/Getty Images)
SYDNEY, NSW - JULY 07: Singer Olivia Newton-John plays with children at the National Tree Day 10th Anniversary Launch at Sydney Park on July 07, 2005 in Sydney, Australia.

While experts cannot tell yet whether the relationship is causal, a previous study can attest that early exposure to green space and gut microbial ecosystem influenced immune system development. It is a "key factor in determining disease susceptibility patterns later in life" and growing up in microbe-rich environments "can have protective health effects on children."

These health-effects may include "changes in the human lifestyle, diet, living environment and environmental biodiversity as a result of urbanization."

Finland experiment was the first to 'explicitly manipulate' the child's urban environment, its changes in their microbiome and the child's immune system.

Finally, while findings don't hold all the answers, it was confirmed that change in environmental microbes relatively affect a well-established microbiome in children, supporting a well-functioning immune system; grounded on the concept of 'biodiversity hypothesis' where a lack thereof could explain recent rise in immune-related illnesses.

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Loss of soil biodiversity could be a public health threat

Land-use changes such as urbanization could lose biodiversity in the modern living environment that "may lead to an un-educated immune system and consequently increase the prevalence of immune-mediated diseases," the authors explained in the study.

After comparing environmental microbes in 10 different urban daycares, and total of 75 kids between the ages of three and five, the team found that microbes on the skin and guts of children who regularly played in green spaces had increased in diversity - "a feature which is tied to an overall healthier immune system."

Meanwhile, an increase in a microbe called gammaproteobacteria appeared among kids who play in the dirt, grass, and among the trees. This microbe boosts skin's immune defense and helps increase immune secretions in the blood reducing immune-transmitted diseases.

"This supports the assumption that contact with nature prevents disorders in the immune system, such as autoimmune diseases and allergies," said environmental ecologist Aki Sinkkonen, also from the University of Helsinki.

Moreover, she suggests that "it would be best if children could play in puddles and everyone could dig organic soil.

"We could take our children out to nature five times a week to have an impact on microbes."

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