Jänner 2000 Austrian children living on a farm have less hay fever, asthma and allergic sensitisation

Background and objectives. In some studies, the prevalence of hay fever and asthma has been found to be lower in children from rural areas than in children from an urban environment. We hypothesised that living on a farm might be protective against development of allergic sensitisation and allergic diseases. Methods. In a cross sectional survey, parents of 2283 children aged 8-10 years from a mostly rural area in Austria answered a standardised questionnaire on allergic diseases and environmental factors. 1137 children performed a skin prick test to seven local allergens. Results. The prevalence of hay fever (3.1% vs 10.3%, p=0.0002), asthma (1.1% vs 3.9%, p=0.017) and a positive skin prick reactivity to at least one of the common local allergens (18.8% vs 32.7%, p=0.001) was significantly lower in children living on a farm than in children from a non-farming environment. In a multivariate logistic regression model, adjusting for genetic background, parent education, living and housing conditions and dietary factors did not change the odds ratio for the association of farming and allergic