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Daycare Prevents Asthma
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| Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 | | CWK Producer |
“I hate thinking about having to get a mask to put over his nose during spring baseball.”
– Harriet Tuggle, mother
Kellen Tuggle started daycare when he was one. Now four years old, he’s battling a serious case of asthma.
“I want him to have a normal life,” says his mom, Harriett Tuggle. “I hate thinking about having to get a mask to put over his nose during spring baseball.”
Kellan’s little sister Miriam entered daycare several months earlier. And, according to her mom, she’s developed a stronger resistance to germs and to asthma. “Miriam just doesn’t seem to be quite as bad. So, I’m hoping that maybe as she grows it will become less and less a factor,” says Tuggle.
Could those few months have made a difference?
According to a new report in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, when a child enters daycare makes a difference. The study found that infants six to twelve months old who attend daycare are 75 percent less likely to develop asthma compared to the kids who stayed home!
Allergist Dr. Mark Livezey explains, “A speculation of why this might happen would relate to a desensitization process that is not unlike what we would use in allergy shots or immune therapy currently ... administering the actual material to which is allergic will actually change the immune system and alter the response of the immune system toward a more protective and beneficial response.”
In other words, when children are exposed to germs in daycare, their immune system strengthens, making them less vulnerable to allergies and asthma.
Experts say, exposure to germs is probably not the only factor in determining whether a child will develop asthma, “But, nonetheless, if we can identify the biggest contributors,” says pediatrician Dr. Robert Geller, “we can address each of the contributors and try to make things better so that we can go back to having less asthma and less severe asthma.”
What We Need To Know
Asthma is the most common chronic illness of childhood, afflicting more than 9 million American children. The incidence of childhood asthma may be increased due to poor asthma management and education, increased air pollution and limited access to care, particularly for those inner-city neighborhoods. Compared to previous generations, American kids spend more time indoors – where asthma-triggering dust mites and other allergens are most common.
Childhood asthma accounted for 14 million days missed from school annually. Asthma is the number-one chronic condition causing children to be absent from school and the highest ranked cause of pediatric hospitalizations in the United States. On average, a child with asthma will miss one full week of school each year due to the disease. The incidence of new asthma cases is highest in children younger than five years of age.
Day care at an early age could have health benefits later in life. Children who attend day care may appear to get sick more often than their peers, but this early exposure to illness appears to provide immunity for the future.
Children who attended day care during the first year of life even had fewer allergy problems. Along with the latest study, previous German research noted that children who started day care before they turned one year old had half the allergy problems of those who started after the age of one. Children who started day care after they turned two had nearly three times the allergy problems. Doctors didn’t notice this effect in children from large families who would be around other children whether they were in day care or not. The doctors believe that exposure to a variety of germs and illnesses during early childhood helps boost the immune system to prevent allergies.
Resources
- American Lung Association
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
- UT Southwestern Medical Center
