Attending daycare may cut risk of developing asthma
Children who attend nursery may have a lower risk of developing asthma than those who do not, according to a study by allergy experts at the University of Manchester.
The study, which looked at 922 children from birth to age five, suggests that the maturation of children's immune systems could be affected by contact with other children and exposure to infection in early childhood.
The researchers looked at data on children's wheezing and allergic symptoms, physician-diagnosed illnesses, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, socio-economic status, pet ownership and number of siblings, as welll as childcare arrangements.
The age at which children started nursery appeared significant, with a 75 per cent reduction in risk of developing a wheeze for children at the age of five who had attended group daycare between the ages of six and 12 months, compared witha 35 per cent reduction for those entering daycare after 12 months.
No correlation was evident between the number of older siblings and the presence of wheeze, suggesting that daycare attendance at any age is associated with a reduced risk compared with not attending daycare at all.
The authors stressed that further studies need to be carried out and parents should not let the study alone influence their decisions.
'Daycare attendance, position in sibship, and early childhood wheezing: A population-based birth cohort study' is published in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (www.jacionline.org).
