Cat and Dog Ownership in Early Life and Infant Development: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study of Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Machiko Minatoya, Atsuko Araki, Chihiro Miyashita, Sachiko Itoh, Sumitaka Kobayashi, Keiko Yamazaki, Yu Ait Bamai, Yasuaki Saijyo, Yoshiya Ito, Reiko Kishi and The Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group
Additional contact information
Machiko Minatoya: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Atsuko Araki: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Chihiro Miyashita: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Sachiko Itoh: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Sumitaka Kobayashi: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Keiko Yamazaki: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Yu Ait Bamai: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
Yasuaki Saijyo: Department of Social Medicine, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa 078-8510, Japan
Yoshiya Ito: Faculty of Nursing, Japanese Red Cross Hokkaido College of Nursing, Kitami 090-0011, Japan
Reiko Kishi: Hokkaido University Center for Environmental and Health Sciences, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan
The Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group: A complete list of the centres and investigators in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group is provided in Appendix A.

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 17, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Contact with companion animals has been suggested to have important roles in enhancing child development. However, studies focused on child development and pet ownership at a very early age are limited. The purpose of the current study was to investigate child development in relation to pet ownership at an early age in a nationwide prospective birth cohort study: the Japan Environment and Children’s Study. Associations between cat and dog ownership at six months and infant development at 12 months of age were examined in this study. Infant development was assessed using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires TM (ASQ-3) at 12 months. Among participants of (Japan Environment and Children’s Study) JECS, those with available data of cat and dog ownership at six months and data for the ASQ-3 at 12 months were included ( n = 78,868). Having dogs showed higher percentages of pass in all five domains measured by ASQ-3 (communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem-solving, and personal-social) compared to those who did not have dogs. Significantly decreased odds ratios (ORs) of developmental delays were observed in association with having dogs in all fix domains (communication: OR = 0.73, gross motor: OR = 0.86, fine motor: OR = 0.84, problem-solving: OR = 0.90, personal-social: OR = 0.83). This study suggested that early life dog ownership may reduce the risks of child developmental delays.

Keywords: pet ownership; child development; birth cohort; ASQ-3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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