Hey Doc!
I have a 4 year old son who is obsessed with eating his own boogers. At first I was totally disgusted by this behavior, but this morning I woke up and thought, "Maybe this should be encouraged behavior." With all of your knowledge, I'm hoping you can tell me the pros and cons. Thanks for your time.
Mama Booger
Mama,
Let me start by saying that I abhor the word "booger" so from here on I shall inexplicably refer to them as "primpings". Now, let's look at this objectively. Firstly, as much as we don't want to, we have to acknowledge that no matter how gross primpings seem, everyone produces them. What we choose to do with them is a more personal matter.
Ostensibly, the eating of ones primpings looks like a pretty innocuous venture. I mean, if it was in our body to begin with, putting it back probably isn't that big of a deal, right? Maybe, but would you put anything else that falls out of your body in your mouth? I thought not.
Before we examine pros and cons, consider the composition of primpings. Here's a terrible, hard-to-decipher pie chart that lays it out for you:
Primping Composition (by percentage)
The chart speaks for itself. Primpings are dried up mucus balls that have captured undesirables and worked themselves to the front of your nasal openings. I would say that encouraging your children to munch on them is probably a bad idea, but ultimately harmless. You say he's obsessed; obsessive behavior is usually pretty healthy, but a primping fettish is disgusting. If there are any pros, I should doubt they are weighty enough to offset the nastiness. If I were you, I'd nip this one in the nose before your son becomes addicted.
-Gork