Have you ever known parents who were so concerned about their kids’ health that they created a sanitary and pristine environment for them at home? There are people who have white carpets, or no carpets, in every room and insist that family members and guests remove their shoes at the front door. They may also keep windows and doors closed all the time, in order to keep out all germs. Some of these people insist on a healthy dose of hand-washing, too.

But maybe the answer is to get a dog and let it have free run of the house. This suggestion would probably horrify some health-conscious parents, but there is scientific evidence that having a dog around the house reduces allergies in kids.

The research was done by a team from the National Research Centre for Environmental Health in Munich. The team, led by Joachim Heinrich, studied 9,000 children over a six-year period of time. The study showed that children who had a dog in their home during infancy had a “significantly lower level of sensitization to pollens and inhaled allergens.”

The theory is that having a dog around increases the infant’s levels of antibodies to common allergens.

So open the windows and doors, put on your shoes, and let Fido come and go as he pleases. It might make your kids healthier.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 2:08 am and is filed under Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.