What children eat may help protect them poor respiratory health according to a study from the Netherlands. The results of a large trial on allergies and asthma in children was published this month in the journal Thorax. It found that diets with high amounts of fish and whole grains are protective against wheezing and asthma.
The study gathered dietary information from parental questionaires on nearly 600 children age 8 to 13 years. Medical tests specific to the respiratory system were also given. The aim was to determine if certain dietary habits had any effect on the prevalence of wheezing or asthma in children.
Prior studies had shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables, dairy, fish, and whole grain products may be protective to the respiratory system because of high amounts of antioxidants and low sugar.
This study did not find any relationship between fruits and vegetables or dairy. But a strong relationship was found between the incidence of both wheezing and asthma and the intake of fish and whole grains.
Children who at high amounts of whole grains had a much less chance of developing asthma and wheezing, with the risk reduced by 54percent and 45 percent respectively.
And children who ate high amounts of fish had similar reductions in risk, 66 percent and 56 percent for asthma and wheezing respectively.
The overall occurance of wheezing in the group was more than 25 percent and for asthma nearly 20 percent.
The study supports the fact that foods do affect allergy and asthma symptoms in children, though the exact mechanism is not fully understood. Fish and whole grains are high in essential fatty acids which act as natural anti-inflammatories. They also contain high amounts of vitamins and minerals that improve immune system function.
Look for more studies to be developed in this area.
Posted by Dr. Christina Gutierrez on December 13, 2006 11:40 AM
