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My own theory is that today's environment is so sterile that kids do not have the opportunity to develop immunity. When I was a pup, we played outdoors a lot. Television watching was limited by our parents. Even in junior high school, we were expected to don gym shorts and a t-shirt and jog around a long school block. Schools didn't close for a couple inches of snow and the bus didn't pick you up right at the front door, if you lived far enough away from school to ride the bus.

Parents driving their kids to school was unheard of and most of us walked, often a mile or more. I'm not even sure why we needed phys ed considering our active lifestyle, but we had it anyway. We also had wood shop and metal shop, required in junior high with advanced offerings available by high school. Everyone was not expected to go to college and learning a trade was considered a perfectly acceptable alternative. Some of us (like me) were greedy and wanted to do both. So even though I ended up going to college, I got part time work which paid better than minimum wage with my trade training.

That was my childhood experience as well. I was outdoors until the streetlights came on. If I came home during the day, my mother would shove a broom in my hand and put me to work. Very little TV except an hour or two before bedtime.

Never, in my 12 years of public school, was I ever driven in. I walked in all kinds of weather. I also had a morning paper route since I was 12 so I was up at 5am every day so I could get the papers delivered before school started.

I think the immunity thing has a lot to do with it. You have to be exposed to germs to keep your immune system running at peak performance. I never used those "hand wipes" that are now all over the place. I take a hot shower every morning but that's about it. I'm just not a hand washing freak. I rarely get sick and most I ever had was the flu. Over 50 years old and never had to spend so much of a night in the hospital.