Living with pet cats or dogs is associated with fewer food allergies in young children.
Even children exposed before birth, as well as those growing up with indoor pets, had fewer food allergies
Scientists have found that across some high-income countries, more than one in ten children are diagnosed with food allergies, and the incidence of food allergies in children continues to rise. Previous research has suggested a potential link between dog or farm animal exposure in pregnancy and early childhood and the reduction of food allergies.
Recent research studying 66,215 children for whom data on exposure to various pets and food allergies were available. About 22 percent were exposed to pets during the fetal period (most commonly indoor dogs and cats). Among children exposed to indoor dogs and cats, there was a significantly reduced incidence of food allergies, though there was no significant difference for children in households with outdoor dogs. Children exposed to indoor dogs were significantly less likely to experience egg, milk, and nut allergies specifically; children exposed to cats were significantly less likely to have egg, wheat, and soybean allergies. Perhaps surprisingly, children exposed to hamsters (0.9 percent of the total group studied) had significantly greater incidence of nut allergies.
The data used here were self-reported (supplemented by medical record data gathered during the first trimester of pregnancy, at delivery, and at the one-month check-up), so relies on the accurate recall of participants. Further studies using oral food challenges are required to more accurately assess the incidence of food allergies. However, the authors suggest that these results can help guide future research into the mechanisms behind childhood food allergies. This also highlights yet another benefit of growing up.