--- title: Allergy Risk Lessened by Childhood on Farm description: Adults who grow up on a farm tend to have lower allergy risk than their rural and urban counterparts, according to new research canonical: https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-27T14:38:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:50:33.319Z article:section: Health og:title: Allergy Risk Lessened by Childhood on Farm og:description: Adults who grow up on a farm tend to have lower allergy risk than their rural and urban counterparts, according to new research og:url: https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Allergy Risk Lessened by Childhood on Farm twitter:description: Adults who grow up on a farm tend to have lower allergy risk than their rural and urban counterparts, according to new research twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kids Who Grew Up on Farms Have Fewer Allergies: Study  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 27, 2016 2:38 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 27, 2016 2:38 PM UTC People who grow up on a farm tend to have lower allergy risk than their rural and urban counterparts, according to new [research](http://thorax.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/thoraxjnl-2015-208154). Researchers behind the study, published in the journal _Thorax_, evaluated data from more than 10,000 people living in 14 countries. Adults who grew up on farms were less likely to respond to allergens and have nasal symptoms of allergies, according to the study. These adults were also 54% less likely to have asthma or hayfever. Researchers remain unsure what drives the correlation between spending childhood on a farm and the development of allergies, though they speculated that exposure to certain [microbes](http://science.time.com/2013/09/11/your-tiny-roommates-meet-the-microbes-living-in-your-home/), [air pollution](http://time.com/4480016/air-pollution-health-effects/) and [physical activity](http://time.com/4495092/exercise-physical-activity-sedentary/) could all play a role. The study also suggests a correlation between lung strength and growing up a farm. Women who lived on a farm before age 5 consistently had stronger lungs as adults. The correlation was not significant in men. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/"},"headline":"Kids Who Grew Up on Farms Have Fewer Allergies: Study","datePublished":"2016-09-27T14:38:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:50:33.319Z","description":"It may have to do with bugs, air pollution and fresh air","url":"https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/","keywords":["Research"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4508613/farm-allergy-risk/","name":"Kids Who Grew Up on Farms Have Fewer Allergies: Study"}}]}] ```