Why do young children pick their noses and eat it?
Digging for green gold is normal behaviour but let's leave ingesting the little balls of snot to the kids.
Asked by: Becca Irven, Haslemere
Everyone – adults and children alike – occasionally picks their nose to free up the passages. In fact, the diameter of our nostrils has probably evolved to match our finger size, for this reason.
Children often eat their bogies because they are curious, and it’s a convenient method of disposal. There’s no particular medical or dietary advantage, but eating bogies is harmless.
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Authors
Luis trained as a zoologist, but now works as a science and technology educator. In his spare time he builds 3D-printed robots, in the hope that he will be spared when the revolution inevitably comes.
