Monday, April 13, 2009
Child Care Prevents Leukemia?
It seems like nearly every day some sort of childhood affliction has either been credited to or blamed on childcare. Whether emotional, social or physical, the "caused by child care theory" always seems to be mentioned. Seems that every time a child sniffles the parent blames the child care for the spread of disease. You may have already heard this, but childcare can prevent Leukemia!
A study presented at the Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukemia conference in London last year, suggests that children who attend day care or play groups decrease their risk of developing the most common type of childhood leukemia by 30 percent. The study researched 3,800 children with cancer. Some of the kids had leukemia -- either ALL or another type -- and some had other forms of cancer. They were between 2 and 5 years old when they were diagnosed. Social activity and day care habits were compared with 7,600 children without cancer.
When the results were looked at more closely, the researchers discovered that the protection from social activity mostly stemmed from formal child care. This included kids who attended child care for any amount of time, a playgroup at least two half-days a week, or at least two half-days a week in a smaller childcare setting with at least four children.
The more social activity or child care the child was exposed to, the lower the risk. The effect was most pronounced when the child attended day care within the first three months of life.
I'm not sure if I completely believe this research or not. But then I certainly don't believe that child care spreads illnesses to any greater extent than the typical trip to the grocery store. If nothing else, this theory holds a calming incentive—that germs and bacteria aren't always bad. Maybe I'll market my child care as cancer preventative...
P.S. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend!
It seems like nearly every day some sort of childhood affliction has either been credited to or blamed on childcare. Whether emotional, social or physical, the "caused by child care theory" always seems to be mentioned. Seems that every time a child sniffles the parent blames the child care for the spread of disease. You may have already heard this, but childcare can prevent Leukemia!
A study presented at the Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukemia conference in London last year, suggests that children who attend day care or play groups decrease their risk of developing the most common type of childhood leukemia by 30 percent. The study researched 3,800 children with cancer. Some of the kids had leukemia -- either ALL or another type -- and some had other forms of cancer. They were between 2 and 5 years old when they were diagnosed. Social activity and day care habits were compared with 7,600 children without cancer.
When the results were looked at more closely, the researchers discovered that the protection from social activity mostly stemmed from formal child care. This included kids who attended child care for any amount of time, a playgroup at least two half-days a week, or at least two half-days a week in a smaller childcare setting with at least four children.
The more social activity or child care the child was exposed to, the lower the risk. The effect was most pronounced when the child attended day care within the first three months of life.
I'm not sure if I completely believe this research or not. But then I certainly don't believe that child care spreads illnesses to any greater extent than the typical trip to the grocery store. If nothing else, this theory holds a calming incentive—that germs and bacteria aren't always bad. Maybe I'll market my child care as cancer preventative...
P.S. I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend!
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 5:54 AM 
