Parents Sucking on the Pacifier might Lower Allergies, Asthma Risk in Children

According to a new study, children of parents who clean the pacifier by sucking it are less likely to develop allergies and asthma than other children.

Researchers say that children might be at a lower risk of developing allergies due to exposure to parental saliva microbes via the pacifier.

"We know these bacteria are important for development," said Dr. Wilfried Karmaus from the University of Memphis, who has studied asthma and eczema, reports Reuters Health. Karmaus wasn't part of the current study.

The study included 184 infants. The children were tested at the age of 18 months and again at 36 months for allergies and their sensitivity toward substances that can cause allergies. Researchers also loked at pacifier cleaning habits of the parents.

Researchers found that children of parents who sucked the pacifier were less likely to suffer from allergies and asthma. Also, vaginal delivery along with pacifier licking provided additional protection from allergies.

The study showed that microbes in saliva of children whose parents had sucked on the pacifier differed from the microbes in the saliva of other children.

"It's a very interesting study that adds to this idea that a certain kind of interaction with the microbial environment is actually a good thing for infants and children. I wonder if the parents that cleaned the pacifiers orally were just more accepting of the old saying that you've got to eat a peck of dirt. Maybe they just had a less 'disinfected' environment in their homes," said Dr. William Schaffner, from Vanderbilt University, reports The New York Times. Schaffner is an expert in infectious diseases and wasn't involved in the current study.

The study is published in the journal Pediatrics.