Pets could help prevent food allergies in children

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Pets could help prevent food allergies, according to a new study that indicates pregnant women who live with pets have less allergic children as long as those babies are also around animals.

Scientists say more research is needed, but a big study of japan found that babies who live with animals had a 13-16% lower risk of developing a food allergy.

“He’ll take care of my itch,” Jediah said.

Three-year-old Jediah is thrilled to see the allergist.

“It’s a little scary,” mum Mary Shreve said. “There’s always this fear when he goes to school if he picks up something.”

Jediah’s mother, Shreve, hears about new research that indicates infants who are around pets are less likely to develop food allergies.

“It can be fatal, so if we can find a way to reduce it, I’m all for it,” Shreve said.

Dr. Manav Segal with Allergy to Chestnut Hill says this is an important new study that covered 65,000 children. She showed that pregnant women who live with pets have children with fewer food allergies.

“It comes down to the hygiene hypothesis,” Segal said.

He says exposure to germs as infants is important for boosting the immune system, which can prevent allergies.

“Having pets in the household can play a protective role,” Segal said. “We were supposed to be exposed to bacteria, viruses, parasites.”

Eight percent of American children now have a food allergy and the numbers are growing.

“Food allergies are a huge, huge problem,” Segal said. “I would consider this an epidemic.”

Dr. Segel now treats some children with oral immunotherapy, exposing them to things they are allergic to, which eventually limits or eliminates reactions.

Jediah’s mother hopes the immunotherapy will work for him, but the new pet research isn’t true for his family. They’ve always had pets and her little boy has allergies anyway.

“That’s not to say it’s the silver bullet, but I think we’re seeing that there are a lot of different correlations that could be helpful,” Shreve said.

So it’s clear that pets aren’t protective for everyone, but this study adds to a growing body of research that indicates pets are not harmful to a child’s immune system and previous studies have shown that children with pets have fewer seasonal allergies.

Stephanie Stahl

Stephanie Stahl is an Emmy Award-winning health journalist. She can be seen daily on CBS3 Eyewitness News and The CW Philly.