Bonds with pets can change diets

Throughout the course of a lifetime, a person may have the fortune to enjoy not only several pets, but several types of pets.

It may start with something small and easy to care for — a goldfish or hamster — and as a child grows and proves they’re ready, they might graduate to a cat or dog.

It’s a natural progression many children experience, beginning with the colorful critters adorning the nursery and stuffed animals propped in the crib.

Reasons children find themselves fascinated with animals are simple enough. They’re not human with traits such as tails and pointy ears, and they do really neat things like live under water, run in a wheel, or jump and climb really high.

Where the real fun comes in, however, is when their traits intersect with those of humans and they interact, make faces, ask for things or find ways to bridge the gap between species — all of which caters to a child’s imagination.

Friends and companions, the relationships that form with animals often complement the experiences children go through and a pet can easily become something they rely on and turn to for comfort — after all, pets listen without judging, are playful and fun loving and readily give affection and comfort.

It’s no surprise children consider pets family members, in some cases see them more like siblings than animals at all.

From teaching responsibility to bringing a child out of their shell or providing a positive outlet to keep them busy and active, there are numerous ways pets can enhance childhood and it’s plenty of reasons for adults to encourage the bond.

Now there may be another benefit — diet.

It appears that those bonds between children and pets actually change the way they approach their diets later in life, according to research published Thursday.

University at Albany psychology researchers conducted a study to better understand what factors might cause a person to remove animal products from their diet in adulthood.

Drawing from people active on food-focused social media pages, a professor-student pair surveyed 325 people about their demographics and history of pet ownership.

They also asked about the type of diets they follow — asking if they identify as: mostly vegetarian but sometimes eat meat; eat some types of meat but not others; eat fish, eggs and dairy but no other meat; eggs and dairy but no other meat; refrain from all animal products, or only eat uncooked, non-meat foods.

What they found was that overall, those who’d owned pets in childhood were significantly more likely than who hadn’t to be vegetarian in adulthood.

Even more interesting, people who had owned a variety of different types of pets were more likely to avoid a wider range of meat or animal products than those who had only owned a single type of pet, like a dog.

Additionally, diversity in pets seemed to correspond to stronger opposition to animal exploitation, and the closer someone’s relationship to their pet, the more likely they were to refrain from using animal products in adulthood, they noted in a press release.

They concluded while someone who had only ever had a dog might have a hard time relating to farm animals, in contrast, having different types of pets seemed to enhance people’s empathy for animals.

The bond between child and pet can certainly help with development of empathy, sometimes a tough lesson for kids because it means sharing and caring for more than one’s self.

Whether it changes diet views or merely fosters compassion, empathy’s always a lesson worth learning.

Sharna Johnson is always searching for ponies. Contact her at: [email protected]