I will very rarely use my blog to post my soapbox views on things, I promise. But I just had to write about an article I read this morning on foxnews.com. If you'd rather not follow the link, basically it says that kids enrolled in daycare or playgroups are less likely to develop leukemia. What?! First of all, why was such a study done (most likely using my tax dollars)? Second of all, are we now supposed to put our kids in daycare to minimize their risk of leukemia? Sheesh.
The article says that when a kid's immune system isn't challenged early on in life, it increases the risk of the immune system responding inappropriately to infection. Totally on board with that theory. I'm all for not keeping kids in a bubble and having them out and about, around other family members, and not being a germaphobe mom. But there's the other side of the coin that some kids in daycare end up with compromised immune systems because their little bodies are constantly bombarded with this virus or that infection.
I promise that I am neither for or against daycare, or belittling anyone who uses some form of childcare for their kids. I just hate studies like this that present such a skewed point of view, and make moms wonder if there's "one more thing" they need to feel guilty about.
The Science Daily article itself (a link from the Fox News blurb) does go on to talk about the importance of breastfeeding and vaccinations, but the bulleted version on foxnews.com (and what most people would read) pretty much focuses on daycare and how it helps reduce the risk of leukemia by 30%. Sheesh. That's all I have to say.
I'm stepping off the box now. :)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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6 comments:
Okay that is just weird. I'm right there with you. Who thinks these studies up. Do they get paid for it with my tax dollars? I want my money back!
It took me a minute, but I figured out that the study was paid for by Children with Leukemia, a UK charitable organization. Not U.S. tax dollars.
And when I skimmed the report, it actually isn't that weird of a study. It's all about trying to pinpoint causes of leukemia in children. It doesn't seem like enough data to really prove a link between day care and lower leukemia rates but it makes some sense that NOT keeping your kid in a bubble bolsters their immune system. The problem with a report like this in the media is they don't explain the whole study (not just day care attendance but like Neelie said also breastfeeding, etc.) and every family will now justify sending their kid to day care forever. None of the articles I saw added the information from the report's executive summary that while early childhood exposure to infection up to age 2 seems to reduce leukemia exposure to infection AFTER age 2 is associated with an INCREASE in the risk of childhood leukemia. Seems like kind of an important clarification!
Wow. I'm all for not keeping kids in a bubble too, but I'm a stay at home mom, and I think my kids are sick OFTEN enough as it is. I don't think I need to be rubbing their faces in every germ that comes along to prevent leukemia! And the comment above makes a great point about how ALL the info needs to be reported on seeing as how those aren't exactly small details being left out!
Stepping off my box now too...:-)
If I have more thsn one child and one is in the public school system, aren't my kids exposed enough to germs. I think kids can be exposed to germs and build their immune system at home and from their sibilings the same way they could if they were in daycare.
Isn't that what nursery is for. See we send our kids to day care once a week!
This makes me laugh. (not to make light of your soap box or anything) I'm sure somewhere there is a study that says sending your kids to daycare increses their risk of something else... I just figure we all have to suffer and one day all of us will die, if it's beacuse we use butter instead of margerine, or because we did not put our kids in day care, so be it.
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