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Parents tend to debate whether it’s safe for newborn babies to be near pets, but having pets nearby early in a child’s life reduces the likelihood of developing food allergies. turned out to be possible.
Recent PLOS One Survey A study published in March found that exposure to cats and dogs while a child was in the womb or during the first few months of life reduced the risk of subsequent food allergies by about 14%.
The strongest effects were seen in children who lived with a domestic dog and in families who had pets during fetal development or early childhood.
“There is a hypothesis that exposure to dander from furry animals early in life causes the immune response to veer away from allergic reactions and towards tolerance,” he says. Dr. Carolyn Quiatan allergist and immunologist at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Owning a dog early in a child’s development was associated with a lower risk of milk, egg and nut allergies, according to a new study.
Owning a cat seems to reduce wheat, egg, and soy allergies.
No strong association was found between food allergy and bird, turtle, or hamster ownership.
Kwiat told CNBC Make It that previous research is conflicting about whether pet ownership in children can actually help prevent the development of food allergies.
“Some studies have shown that early exposure to dander from furry animals can prevent food allergies, but other studies show otherwise,” she says.
I don’t think there are enough recommendations to have a pet specifically to prevent food allergies during pregnancy.
Dr. Carolyn Quiat
Allergist and Immunologist at Mount Sinai Hospital
However, a recent study conducted in Japan shows promise as it is the largest study of its kind.
“What’s really impressive about this study is that it included 66,000 children,” says Kwiat. “The larger the sample size, the more powerful the study.”
Still, she points out that the study’s findings are purely observational and should be taken with a grain of salt. Diagnosis of food allergy was based entirely on parent-completed questionnaires rather than on medical examination results.
“The gold standard for any type of causal study would be a randomized controlled trial controlling for other variables such as birth order and gender,” Kwiat said. [and] everything else. Then you can be more confident that exposure to pets actually reduced the risk of food allergies. “
“I don’t think there are enough recommendations to have pets during pregnancy to specifically prevent food allergies simply because the data have been so conflicting in the past.”
While the study is a “step in the right direction,” giving children high-allergenic foods early on is much more likely to make them far less likely to develop food allergies later in life. Kwiat says.
“We know that early introduction promotes tolerance and helps prevent allergies,” she says. “So I can say that with more confidence.”
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