PARIS, Nov 3 — Swedish researchers have looked at data on more than one million Swedish children and found that those who grew up with dogs had a 15 per cent lower risk of asthma.

Building on research that shows a child's risk of asthma drops by half if he or she grows up on a farm, the new study confirmed the "farming effect" and also found that growing up with dogs could be enough to make a difference. The size of the data set allowed the researchers to account for factors such as area of residence or asthma in parents. The study is being published in JAMA Pediatrics. — AFP-Relaxnews