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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Do researchers find children who grow up around dogs or farm animals are less likely to develop asthma?

Monday, February 8, 2021

By Mia Dillon

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YES

A 2018 study by researchers in Sweden demonstrated that children with two dogs or more in their homes had a lower risk of asthma than those with one dog only. No association was found between the size of the dog and the likelihood of developing asthma. There was also evidence of a stronger association between female dogs and a lower risk of childhood asthma.

A study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2017 found that exposure to dogs may prevent asthma symptoms, but not in children with dog allergies.

A 1999 study by researchers in Quebec found a significantly lower prevalence of asthma in children raised on a farm as compared with children attending the same schools in the same rural areas who had not been subjected to regular contact with a farm environment.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

National Center for Biotechnology Information National Library of Medicine: Dog characteristics and future risk of asthma in children growing up with dogs

American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: Dogs may protect against childhood eczema and asthma

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine ATS Journals: Relative scarcity of asthma and atopy among rural adolescents raised on a farm

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR

Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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About fact briefs published on Gigafact

Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.