A study says that early social contact may provide a degree of protection against childhood leukemia
It is common for parents to be concerned with the infections and illnesses that their child may pick up at daycare or preschool playing amongst other children. However, I recently read an article which asserts that daycare may reduce leukemia risk. To be more specific, the researchers at University of California, Berkeley contend that children who attend daycare or play groups are about 30 percent less likely to develop leukemia.
While this sounds suspicious, the basis for theses studies comes from something called the "hygiene hypothesis”. Supposedly, when children are exposed to certain infections early on it helps them develop stronger immune systems. Those that have pets and older siblings also tend to develop stronger immune systems. I’ve read about this hypothesis applied to everything from asthma to atopic dermatitis to the flu.
I contracted chicken pox and mumps as an infant because of early social contact, and I’m glad I wasn’t old enough to remember any of it. Had I been isolated or not had older siblings, its possible I would have gotten those illnesses at a much later age. I wasn’t sick very often as a child and I’m not very often ill as an adult, and it may be that early social contact was a factor.
I think what we can take away from this study is that it is definitely beneficial for young children to have early social contact in groups. It not only benefits their health as well as all other areas of development. In contrast, isolation is definitely counterproductive to any child’s development.
