According to the Ministry of Health, approximately 8% of children in France suffer from a food allergy. In 34% of cases, the allergy focuses on eggs; we can also mention allergies to fish (5% of cases) and shellfish (2% of cases).
A Japanese study affirms it: children who live daily with a pet would have a lower risk than others of developing a food allergy while growing up. To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied medical data on 66,215 Japanese babies.
A cat or a dog to protect your child against food allergies
Result ? Children who lived with a cat or a dog during their first years would be less affected than the others by food allergies: in particular, growing up with a cat would “protect” against allergy to eggs, wheat and soy, while that growing up with a dog would be a good bulwark against allergies to eggs, milk and oilseeds…
More intriguing no doubt: children who grow up with a hamster would present an increased risk of oilseed allergy!
In addition, the Japanese researchers point out that the “anti-allergy protection” which seems to be provided by pets could begin from pregnancy, that is to say from the fetal life of the child. Here is an additional argument to adopt a four-legged friend, for example in a refuge…
Source : PLOS One
