Dear parents, here is one reason you should get your kid a dog

Swedish researchers have looked at data on more than one million Swedish children and found that those who grew up with dogs had a 15 percent lower risk of asthma.

Building on research that shows a child's risk of asthma drops by half if he or she grows up on a farm, the new study confirmed the "farming effect" and also found that growing up with dogs could be enough to make a difference. The size of the data set allowed the researchers to account for factors such as area of residence or asthma in parents.

The study is being published in JAMA Pediatrics.