If you’re on the fence about whether to get your kid that dog or cat they’ve been begging for, here’s a reason you may want to give in.
A new study out of the University of Liverpool finds that pets support healthy child development and children who grow up with a them get social, emotional and educational benefits. What’s more, children and adolescents with pets are likely to have greater self-esteem, less loneliness and gain enhanced social skills.
So when is the right time to get your child that animal? Well, the study finds that if you want the greatest impact on things like self-esteem you’ll want to expose your child to a pet either before age six or over the age of ten. And not surprising kids will get the best benefit from either a dog or cat, which the study’s author says are “the best providers of social support, perhaps due to a higher level of interaction and reciprocation in comparison to other pets.”
Source: Yahoo Finance