The benefits of growing up with pets

Not only do you get healthier from growing up with animals, you also get better social skills compared to children without pets.

 In a study from 2011, that had followed 566 children from birth until they were 18 have showed that living with a dog or a cat during your first year of life decreases the risk of allergies against these pets by as much as 50%. This was true for both sexes when they lived with cats, while the same effect was only seen in boys not in girls when they lived with dogs. Exposure to pets during any other time than the first year of life had no effect on the prevalence of allergies later in life.

So in short, living with a cat or dog does not increase the risk of becoming allergic to these pets. To have an effect you need to live with these pets as an infant and the effect then will be that the risk of getting allergic is decreased, possibly by as much as 50%.

So what other effects of growing up with pets have been found?

• A Swedish study found that pet exposure during the first year of life was associated with a lower prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma in children ages 7 to 13 years old.
• A large–scale survey of 11,000 Australians, Chinese, and Germans found that pet owners made up to 20 percent fewer annual visits to the doctor than non-pet owners.
• A study of 256 children, ages 5 to 11 years, in three schools in England and Scotland found that kids with pets had fewer sick days.
• A study of 100 children younger than 13 years who owned cats found that more than 80 percent said they got along better with family and friends.
• Studies have linked family ownership of a pet with high self–esteem in young children and greater cognitive development.
• Children with pets at home score significantly higher on empathy and pro–social scales than non–pet owners. 

I wish I had had these facts to back me up when I as a child relentlessly begged my parents to give me a dog. Maybe it would have made a difference..

Sources:
 Wegienka G, Johnson CC, Havstad S. Lifetime dog and cat exposure and dog- and cat-specific sensitization at age 18 years. Clinical & Experimental Allergy.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/pet-health/effects-of-pets-on-kids.aspx