By: Andrea Yan
Pets have been shown to improve physical and emotional health throughout the human lifespan. They offer valuable lessons for children, and can also serve to improve the health of older citizens. Children rank pets as some of the most important beings in their lives, highlighting the comfort and support pets give.
Pets influence social skills, physical health, cognitive development, and the ability to feel empathy positively. A study done by Hayley Christian, an associate professor at the University of Western Australia in Perth, in an attempt to find if pets were truly the roots of all those benefits, showed that children who owned a pet were more active, had less screen time, and got better sleep than those who did not own a pet. In a separate study, the same research team showed that children who are regularly engaged in dog-related physical activity had better development outcomes, such as less peer problems and more prosocial behavior.
These animal companions teach kids valuable life lesson as well. Marion Janner, a mental health campaigner says “they [animals] teach kids how to be responsible, altruistic, and compassionate and, valuable but sadly, how to cope when someone you love dies.”
Dogs can also help with person-to-person interactions. Megan Mueller, an associate professor of human-animal interaction at Tufts University says that “[w]e get the social benefits from interacting with the dog, but there’s also this way in which animals can facilitate social interaction with other people.” People tend to socialize and have conversations with other dog walkers when walking their dog.
The Health and Retirement Study shows that long-term pet ownership is associated with a protection against cognitive decline. Having pets combines many essential elements of a brain-healthy life-style, such as social companionship and a sense of duty and purpose. Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Schmidt College of Medicine, says “[c]ognitive engagement, socialization, physical activity, and having a sense of purpose can separately, or even more so in combination, address key modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease dementia.”
The Health and Retirement Study has also shown that pet owners tend to be of high socioeconomic status, which could be part of the reason for the brain boosts: these people are more likely to visit the doctor and have resources to prevent mental decline. Brain boosts were also associated with pet-ownership were more prominent in Black adults, college-educated adults, and men. More research will be needed to explain the finding from the study because previous studies has been biased, and majorly contained White women.
Pets can provide the perfect companion for a person of any age. Abolishing pet fees and providing low-cost vet services would go a long way in giving the opportunity for any socioeconomic class to reap the benefits of having a pet.
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/23/health/pets-brain-health-study-wellness/index.html