Asthma Risks in Children: Mediterranean Diet Reduces, ‘Burger Diet’ Increases

A combination of researchers from Germany, Spain, and the University of London have reported that children (8 to 12 years old) who eat what is known as the ‘Mediterranean’ diet have a much lower risk of developing asthma.

The independent research, published in the journal Thorax, looked at the diets of around 50,000 children from 20 different countries and found that diet is actually associated with wheeze and asthma (but not with allergic sensitisation) in children.

The study looked at results from 1995 to 2005, with cross-sectional studies in 29 centres in 20 countries. Parental questionnaires were used to collect information on allergic diseases and exposure factors.

The results showed that fruit intake was associated with a low prevalence of current wheeze in all countries, whilst the consumption of fish in affluent countries and of cooked green vegetables in non-affluent countries was associated with a lower prevalence of current wheeze.

The overall results showed that more frequent consumption of fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower lifetime prevalence of asthma, whereas high burger consumption was associated with higher lifetime asthma prevalence.

(See also our article on Asthma)

References

Nagel G, Weinmayr G, Kleiner A, Garcia-Marcos L, Strachan DP; ISAAC Phase Two Study Group. Effect of diet on asthma and allergic sensitisation in the International Study on Allergies and Asthma in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Two. Thorax. 2010 Jun;65(6):516-22. doi: 10.1136/thx.2009.128256. PMID: 20522849.