@marakai said:
Though I am in agreement with the poster who wrote about the increase in over-sensitive kids as a result to totally pampered immune systems, thanks to anti-bactericidal soaps, antibiotics for colds and what not.
I've encountered a hypothesis, which I'm not qualified to judge, to the effect that the sharp increase in severe peanut allergies in children started a couple of years after companies started using peanut oil instead of mineral oil in their baby oil.* The idea is that peanut oil (or any other plant-based oil product) on a bad case of diaper rash could, in some cases, lead to a serious immune system reaction. And therefore, in future, the body would "recognize" the peanut proteins as a toxin, and react accordingly. But, as I say, I'm not an allergist or an immunologist or anything, so that could all be a load of hooey.
*(They stopped making baby oil out of actual babies in the early 1900s.)