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Children in day-care centers experienced more frequent illnesses compared to home-reared children. This suggests potential impacts on physical health from early group child care settings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Early childhood education settings like day-care centers are common.
- Understanding the health implications of group child care is crucial for child well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare illness frequencies in children attending day-care centers versus those cared for at home or in family day-care homes.
- To identify specific illness categories and age groups most affected by day-care attendance.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal study over two winters comparing illness rates.
- Data collected via bimonthly telephone interviews with parents of children aged 6-42 months.
- Tracking seven categories of illness and overall symptoms.
Main Results:
- Children in day-care centers reported significantly more gastrointestinal and total illnesses in the first year.
- In the second year, center-based children, especially those under two, had higher illness rates.
- Mean illnesses per call were 2.56 for center-based, 1.36 for home-reared, and 1.35 for family day-care.
Conclusions:
- Group day-care attendance is associated with a higher frequency of reported illnesses in young children.
- While psychological health may be unaffected, physical health may be impacted by early group care.
- Further research is needed to determine if these children develop increased resistance to infection later in life.
Abstract:
The frequency of reported illness in children enrolled in a day-care center was compared to frequency in home-reared children and in children in family day-care homes. Children ranged from 6 to 42 months of age (mean, 21 months). Data on seven categories of illness were collected by bimonthly telephone interviews with parents during two consecutive winters. In the first year of the study gastrointestinal and total illnesses were reported significantly more frequently in children enrolled in the day-care center, though major illnesses were not. In the second year of the study illnesses were significantly more frequently reported in center children though mainly at the younger ages, that is, prior to 2 years of age. The mean numbers of illnesses and symptoms reported per call over the 2 years of the study were 2.56, 1.36, and 1.35 for center, home-reared and family day-care children respectively. Though it has been shown elsewhere that psychological health may be unaffected by early group care, the present findings imply that physical health may be somewhat reduced. It is unknown whether these children will be more resistant to infection at a later age.