Children bought up on farms are less likely to develop asthma, according to a study published in the latest edition of the Lancet journal (2001; pp. 1129-33). Researchers from the Salzburg-based Paediatric Pulmonology and Allergology Children's Hospital undertook a cross-sectional survey in rural areas of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, in which 2618 (75%) of 3504 parents of six to 13-year-old children completed a standardised questionnaire on asthma, hay fever, and atopic eczema.