Day-Care Benefits are Nothing to Sneeze at

There may be a payoff to all the sniffling and coughing by children who attend day care: A study suggests they probably will get fewer colds in elementary school. Kids in large day-care centers — those with six or more children — appear to develop immunity to many of the viruses responsible for the common cold



The findings support a long-held theory among some pediatricians. The study, published in February's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, found that kids in day care had almost twice as many colds at age 2 as those cared for at home.

But from 6 to 11, children who had attended large day-care centers had about one-third as many colds as those who had not. The advantage disappeared by 13, and both groups appeared to have the same degree of protection.