According to a new study, owning pet cats and dogs during fetal development and early stages of infancy help protect kids from developing food allergies.
“Our findings suggest that exposure to dogs and cats might be beneficial against the development of certain food allergies, thereby alleviating concerns about [being pet owners and keeping them] and reducing the burden of food allergies,” the authors wrote.
The study, which was published in the journal PLOS One, reviewed and analyzed data from over 65,000 Japanese children. The data showed that children who were exposed to cats or indoor dogs had a 13% to 16% lower risk of all food allergies in comparison to those babies who lived in non-pet homes.
Children exposed to cats were less likely to become allergic to egg, wheat and soybean allergens. Those who were exposed to dogs, were less likely to become allergic to egg, milk and nut allergens.
“It is critical to have these exposures early on as the immune system is developing, as the gut is developing, because it does seem to be an important route for sensitization,” Dr. Jonathan Bernstein, president of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, said to CNN in an interview regarding the study.
Bernstein, goes on to say that in this case, pet secretions can also be a good thing.
However, don’t go out and buy that furry little new member of the family just yet. Dr. Bernstein suggests that more research is indeed needed for complete study confirmation.
“There’s a need to really confirm these types of studies,” Bernstein said to the popular news outlet. “So I wouldn’t necessarily change lifestyles based on this data, but I wouldn’t certainly get rid of pets in the home.”
Bernstein continued, “If you’re thinking about having an animal and you’re concerned because you have allergies … there may be an added benefit to having an animal, not just in terms of what it does for families and people’s general love of pets, but also, it could be potentially protective if there’s an early life exposure.”
According to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, as of 2021, about 20 million people have food allergies in the U.S., 4 million of those, (5.8%), are children.
