WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Two new studies show the flip sides of daycare for children: While time at daycare can reduce the stress felt by children with working mothers, it may also mean a higher chance to be surrounded by illnesses.
A study conducted by the University of Bath in England, published in the journal Developmental Psychobiology, concluded that stresses of women who have low job satisfaction can be felt by their children. In an attempt to combat such levels of stress, the report suggests more childcare options.
"Spending more time in childcare makes a big difference to the stress levels in children whose mothers have low job satisfaction," said Dr. Julie Turner-Cobb from the University of Bath, who conducted the study.
More than 50 nursery-school children, ages three to four, were involved in the study which measured their levels of cortisol, a steroid stress hormone that regulates blood pressure, cardiovascular function, immune function and also controls the body's use of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. The hormone is secreted in either physically or psychologically stressful situations.
The 56 participants' saliva samples were collected every morning and evening for six months; the researchers also questioned the mothers about both their workplace and home life during the same time span.
The findings confirmed that those whose mothers worked in low-satisfaction jobs did have higher levels of cortisol, especially in the evening. Although cortisol is a normal biological element, if it remains at an elevated level for long periods of time it can be detrimental to one's health.
"Extending the availability of affordable and adequate childcare may not only improve the quality of life for the mothers, but in doing so may improve the long-term health of their children," said Dr. David Jessop, a researcher from the University of Bristol.
But when children get to daycare, are they going to be surrounded by illnesses? According to a study by the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, parents, pediatricians and childcare providers lack knowledge of the guidelines for when sick children should stay home.
The findings, appearing in the new issue of Ambulatory Pediatrics, found they knew guidelines for 12 common childhood ailments only 60 percent of the time.
"When their child attending child care becomes ill, parents have limited options. It's easy to see how exclusion can become a contentious issue between parents who may think child care providers are inconsistent and unreasonable in their application of guidelines," said Dr. Kristen Copeland, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and the lead author of the study.
Guidelines were revised in 2002 by pediatricians and other health experts and identify 28 specific symptoms and diseases that determine if a child should be sent home. But many states only require daycare providers to adhere to state licensing standards and not necessarily federal guidelines.
Copeland and her team studied pediatricians, parents and child care providers in the Baltimore area between May and June 2000. The findings: 81 percent of pediatricians thought that current child care exclusion practices result in too many exclusions, 44 percent of child care providers thought current practices result in too few exclusions, and 78 percent of parents of children in child care were happy with the frequency of exclusions.
But just because a child is temporarily barred from childcare does not rule out that the illness has already been spread. "All three groups -- but especially childcare providers and parents -- were overconfident about the ability of exclusion to prevent disease spread," said Dr. Copeland.
"Because the period of infectivity precedes the manifestation of symptoms for so many of these common childhood viral illnesses, most of the other children and staff in the center have already been exposed once the child becomes ill."
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