Cargando…
Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention?
INTRODUCTION: Positive associations between having a pet dog and adult health outcomes have been documented; however, little evidence exists regarding the benefits of pet dogs for young children. This study investigates the hypothesis that pet dogs are positively associated with healthy weight and m...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2015
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4674442/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26605705 http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150204 |
_version_ | 1782404893326180352 |
---|---|
author | Gadomski, Anne M. Scribani, Melissa B. Krupa, Nicole Jenkins, Paul Nagykaldi, Zsolt Olson, Ardis L. |
author_facet | Gadomski, Anne M. Scribani, Melissa B. Krupa, Nicole Jenkins, Paul Nagykaldi, Zsolt Olson, Ardis L. |
author_sort | Gadomski, Anne M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: Positive associations between having a pet dog and adult health outcomes have been documented; however, little evidence exists regarding the benefits of pet dogs for young children. This study investigates the hypothesis that pet dogs are positively associated with healthy weight and mental health among children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study accrued a consecutive sample of children over 18 months in a pediatric primary care setting. The study enrolled 643 children (mean age, 6.7 years); 96% were white, 45% were female, 56% were privately insured, and 58% had pet dogs in the home. Before an annual visit, parents of children aged 4 to 10 years completed the DartScreen, a comprehensive Web-based health risk screener administered using an electronic tablet. The screener domains were child body mass index (BMI), physical activity, screen time, mental health, and pet-related questions. RESULTS: Children with and children without pet dogs did not differ in BMI (P = .80), screen time of 2 hours or less (P = 0.99), or physical activity (P = .07). A lower percentage of children with dogs (12%) met the clinical cut-off value of Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED-5) of 3 or more, compared with children without dogs (21%, P = .002). The mean SCARED-5 score was lower among children with dogs (1.13) compared with children without dogs (1.40; P = .01). This relationship was retained in multivariate analysis after controlling for several covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Having a pet dog in the home was associated with a decreased probability of childhood anxiety. Future studies need to establish whether this relationship is causal and, if so, how pet dogs alleviate childhood anxiety. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4674442 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-46744422016-01-04 Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? Gadomski, Anne M. Scribani, Melissa B. Krupa, Nicole Jenkins, Paul Nagykaldi, Zsolt Olson, Ardis L. Prev Chronic Dis Original Research INTRODUCTION: Positive associations between having a pet dog and adult health outcomes have been documented; however, little evidence exists regarding the benefits of pet dogs for young children. This study investigates the hypothesis that pet dogs are positively associated with healthy weight and mental health among children. METHODS: This cross-sectional study accrued a consecutive sample of children over 18 months in a pediatric primary care setting. The study enrolled 643 children (mean age, 6.7 years); 96% were white, 45% were female, 56% were privately insured, and 58% had pet dogs in the home. Before an annual visit, parents of children aged 4 to 10 years completed the DartScreen, a comprehensive Web-based health risk screener administered using an electronic tablet. The screener domains were child body mass index (BMI), physical activity, screen time, mental health, and pet-related questions. RESULTS: Children with and children without pet dogs did not differ in BMI (P = .80), screen time of 2 hours or less (P = 0.99), or physical activity (P = .07). A lower percentage of children with dogs (12%) met the clinical cut-off value of Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders (SCARED-5) of 3 or more, compared with children without dogs (21%, P = .002). The mean SCARED-5 score was lower among children with dogs (1.13) compared with children without dogs (1.40; P = .01). This relationship was retained in multivariate analysis after controlling for several covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Having a pet dog in the home was associated with a decreased probability of childhood anxiety. Future studies need to establish whether this relationship is causal and, if so, how pet dogs alleviate childhood anxiety. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2015-11-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4674442/ /pubmed/26605705 http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150204 Text en https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is a publication of the U.S. Government. This publication is in the public domain and is therefore without copyright. All text from this work may be reprinted freely. Use of these materials should be properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Original Research Gadomski, Anne M. Scribani, Melissa B. Krupa, Nicole Jenkins, Paul Nagykaldi, Zsolt Olson, Ardis L. Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title | Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title_full | Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title_fullStr | Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title_full_unstemmed | Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title_short | Pet Dogs and Children’s Health: Opportunities for Chronic Disease Prevention? |
title_sort | pet dogs and children’s health: opportunities for chronic disease prevention? |
topic | Original Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4674442/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26605705 http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.150204 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT gadomskiannem petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention AT scribanimelissab petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention AT krupanicole petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention AT jenkinspaul petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention AT nagykaldizsolt petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention AT olsonardisl petdogsandchildrenshealthopportunitiesforchronicdiseaseprevention |