Yes, you read correctly.
Many of us crew with hawk-eyed mothers who’d spend half their time begging us to stop biting our nails.
But a new study suggests that the nasty habit might not be so nasty for your health. The research, undertaken by the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, included 1037 participants.
The 31% of participants who were thumb-suckers and nail-biters from an early age were far less likely to develop ‘atopic sensitisation’ – a science-y way of saying that they were less likely to develop allergies and have allergic reactions (like asthma and eczema).
The participants were monitored from infancy to the age of 32.
So the next time someone tells you to stop biting your nails, tell them that you’re doing it for your health.
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