BY SANDRA GUY

We’ve all read the headlines: Pets ease people’s stress and can even help children with Type 1 diabetes check their glucose levels.

But there’s an equally important process going on: The National Institutes of Health is working to improve the methodological rigor of these studies.

“No one should get a pet simply for the perceived health benefits. That’s not a good reason,” said James Griffin, Ph.D., acting chief of the child development and behavior branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

“It’s so important to understand the underlying mechanisms – is it having something to look after? Someone to look after you? Is it unconditional love?” said Griffin, who directs the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) branch’s early learning and school readiness program.

To delve into these issues, NIH has partnered with a company better known for its M&Ms and Milky Ways – Mars Inc. — and its WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition.

Scientists are looking into the potential physical and mental health benefits for a variety of animals, from fish to guinea pigs to dogs and cats.

A key hurdle is creating a blind study.

“We don’t randomly assign people to have pets or not have pets,” Griffin said.

But exceptions do happen.

One is a study involving adolescents with Type 1 diabetes. Scientists gave each kid a fish to care for. And they set up the fish feeding around the time the young people needed to check their blood glucose.

Result: Sure enough, the kids got much better at checking their blood glucose levels when they timed it with caring for the fish.

The researchers are also studying animal interactions with kids who have autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions.

“We’re trying to tap into the subjective quality of the relationship with the animal—that part of the bond that people feel with animals—and how that translates into some of the health benefits,” Griffin said.

One study found that dogs can help children with ADHD focus their attention. Researchers enrolled two groups of children diagnosed with ADHD into 12-week group therapy sessions. The first group of kids read to a therapy dog once a week for 30 minutes. The second group read to puppets that looked like dogs.

Kids who read to the real animals showed better social skills and more sharing, cooperation, and volunteering. They also had fewer behavioral problems.

Another study found that children with autism spectrum disorder were calmer while playing with guinea pigs in the classroom. When the children spent 10 minutes in a supervised group playtime with guinea pigs, their anxiety levels dropped. The children also had better social interactions and were more engaged with their peers.

The researchers suggest that the animals offered unconditional acceptance, making them a calm comfort to the children.

“Animals can become a way of building a bridge for those social interactions,” Griffin says.