Does day care attendance reduce child leukemia risk?

According to a review of 14 studies, day care attendance early in life may reduce the risk of childhood leukemia by about 30%.

Investigators presented the findings at the 2nd Children with Leukemia Causes and Prevention of Childhood Leukemia Conference in London. The studies comprised 6,108 children with leukemia and 13,704 without the disease. The results of twelve of the studies suggested that social interaction with other children at day care or in play groups may have a protective effect against leukemia, while the remaining two studies did not find such a link.

The association between social interaction and reduced childhood leukemia risk was similar when looking specifically at studies of day care attendance before the age of 1 or 2.