Why Owning a Pet May Help Your Health
Pet owners already know how much better life is with their animal friends, but experts say that having a pet can also be good for your health.
America’s Centers for Disease Control says that owning a pet is linked with better fitness and lower stress. It explains that people who own pets usually spend more time outside and exercising, and that pets can help people with depression.
Research on 3.4 million people in Sweden between the ages of 40 and 80 found that having a dog lowered their risk of death from any cause by 24%. The researchers noted that having a dog probably means people exercise more.
This is supported by a smaller study of 700 people by the University of Liverpool, which found that dog owners are four times more likely to get the amount of exercise needed to stay healthy. Mostly because dogs need to be taken for walks, dog owners were found to be getting at least 150 minutes of exercise every week, if not more.
Another study by Washington State University found that petting either a dog or a cat for just ten minutes led to much lower stress levels among college students.
But it’s not just dogs and cats that are good for human health. Researchers from Plymouth University found that watching fish swim in a tank also led to lower heart rates and blood pressure.
