TORONTO – New research indicates that children who are placed in daycare from 6 months of age on, have a lower rate of developing asthma.

The numbers were impressive: in the British study of over 900 children, those placed in daycare after 6 months of age had 1/3 less risk of developing asthma symptoms by age 5. For children placed in daycare between 6 and 12 months, their risk of asthma symptoms was reduced by 75 per cent – the biggest decrease of all age groups reviewed.

These results tend to support the current theory that asthma and allergy are related to modern society being too clean. The hygiene hypothesis state that children are not being exposed to infections and germs in early life and that the immune system is more prone to malfunction as a result. However, children in daycare environments are exposed to more bacteria and pathogens through their interactions with playmates.

Researchers looked at other factors in the study, including number of siblings and a child’s position in birth order, but neither of these appeared to influence asthma risk.

Asthma is a chronic breathing problem that affects your airways. With asthma, the inside walls of the airways are inflamed and are prone to reacting to irritants such as allergens, small particles or cigarette smoke. When irritation occurs, the asthmatic’s airways constrict even more, causing the classic “whistling” sound during normal breathing. It also causes coughing, chest tightness and can be severe enough to be life-threatening.

Asthma can arise at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed in childhood.

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