CONFIRMED - Eat Dirt. Live Longer

OK, not exactly. But very close.

For a while I've been lamenting the fact that kids don't play outside anymore and do all the things we did as kids - play tag (and the 932,874 different versions of it that can be spontaneously created), play baseball with 5 people (thank goodness for those Ghost Men who ran the bases), and, most importantly, spend hours gleefully playing with water, dirt, and mud.

These laments are often summed up by the statement, "That's why kids these days are always so sick. They don't eat dirt like we did. They need to eat more dirt." And, being someone who does not have kids, I am fully qualified to make these proclamations.

Now it seems that MSNBC.com agrees with me. Admittedly, this article leaves out those of us who came of age in the 80s but I think it still applies. Goodness knows, none of use ever wore a helmet when riding our bicycles (I still remember the kid on the news who was probably 10 years old when he explained to the reporter that he wouldn't wear a helmet because, "you can't pick up girls with a piece of Tupperware on your head")

Now, go feed your kids some dirt. They'll be better for it.