New research shows that children who attend daycare regularly in the first few months of life are less likely to develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of the blood cancer, than kids who do not.

The most plausible explanation for why daycare seems to protect against Leukemia is that it allows children to be exposed to common infections early in life. “Some degree of early exposure to infection seems to be important for child health,” the researchers say.

As reported in the British Medical Journal, Dr. T. O. B. Eden, from Manchester Children’s University Hospitals in the UK, and colleagues assessed daycare use and social activity during the first year of life for 6305 children without cancer and 3140 with cancer, including 1286 with Leukemia.

The risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia fell as social activity increased, the team found. Compared with children who spent no time outside the home, those who attended regular daycare were 38 percent to 52 percent less likely to develop leukemia.

Further analysis showed that daycare only had an anti-leukemia effect if the facility involved at least four children for at least days a week.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal, online April 22, 2005.