The Daily Populous Tuesday July 7th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by yle.fi and submitted by parandroidfinn

The dogs pictured above are not related to the story.

A recent study found that children exposed to dogs early in life experienced fewer respiratory infections and needed fewer antibiotics.

According to a new study by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), children who grow up with a dog are healthier than their peers.

Researchers found that microbes associated with dogs help to strengthen the developing immune system. Children exposed to these microbes experienced fewer respiratory infections, spent less weeks with fever and required fewer courses of antibiotics.

"The greatest health benefits are seen when a dog joins the family during pregnancy or while the children are still very young," noted paediatrician and researcher Jenni Mäki.

The study followed nearly 400 Finnish families, around one-third of whom lived on farms, while the remainder lived in rural areas as well as in cities.

Researchers said the protective effect was linked to specific microbes carried by dogs, rather than simply a greater diversity of bacteria in the home. The association remained even after accounting for factors such as family size, living environment and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The research was carried out by THL in collaboration with Kuopio University Hospital and the University of Eastern Finland.

smitherenesar on July 6th, 2026 at 20:43 UTC »

What if your kid is allergic to dogs?

AssistanceChemical63 on July 6th, 2026 at 19:18 UTC »

Seems like if you have the space to have a dog and money to feed it, you are already better off.

_PM_ME_YOUR_FORESKIN on July 6th, 2026 at 18:40 UTC »

THL?

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