Pet owners report poorer health: study

Pet owners are often thought of as energetic folks who play with their pooches, but researchers in Finland found they are actually less healthy than people without pets.

Researchers at the University of Turku found the result in a population study of more than 21,000 working-aged people.

Pet owners smoked slightly more often and exercised less often than those who did not have pets, the team reports in this week's online issue of PloS One.

Dog owners exercised more than those without dogs, but this did not have an effect on their body mass index.

Pet ownership was most common among people aged 40 or older, who tend to settle down as couples in single family homes. They were also slightly more likely to have a low social standing or education.

Among people working in agriculture, four out of five had a pet, compared with 41 per cent for other occupations.

Pet owners reported poorer health, including high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcer, sciatica, migraine, depression and panic attacks. Socio-demographic differences and risk factors explained the differences between the two groups, the researchers said.

"Pet owners had a slightly higher BMI than the rest, which indicates that people having a pet (particularly a dog) could use some exercise," the team concluded.

"A great challenge is awaiting public health workers in making a combined exercise and nutrition program for the kind of middle-aged population group that has established itself in life, has a low level of basic education, and owns the most pets, particularly living in rural locations."

In contrast, an earlier study of rural residents by researchers at the University of Guelph concluded pet owners tended to be younger, currently married or living with someone and more physically active than non-pet owners.

Pet ownership seemed to be tied to maintaining or slightly increasing levels of physical health, based on a test of the ability to perform daily tasks.

The relationship between pet ownership and well-being was more complex for older people, the team concluded in a 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

At the Atlantic Veterinary College, researchers are testing whether fitting overweight dogs with pedometers will motivate dog owners to get more exercise for their pets and themselves.