Vis en volkorenvoeding tegen astma bij kinderen.*

Kinderen die relatief veel volkorenproducten en vis eten blijken aanzienlijk minder astma te hebben.. Dit blijkt uit de Nederlandse gedeelte van een internationale studie bij 598 Nederlandse kinderen van 8-13 jaar. In deze studie bleek geen duidelijk verband tussen het eten van (citrus)fruit, groente en zuivelproducten en astma De resultaten zijn gepubliceerd in het tijdschrift Thorax.
Diet–childhood asthma link reinforced

The idea that children could reduce their risk of developing asthma through their diet has received renewed support from Dutch investigators.
C Tabak (National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven) and colleagues studied almost 600 Dutch children and found that those who ate a lot of whole grain products or fish had a reduced risk of asthma.
The researchers say their study differs from previous research as it defined asthma patients from both their clinical test results and their parents’ questionnaire responses. However, it failed to demonstrate cause and effect.
The results are based on data for 598 schoolchildren aged 8–13 years.
Linear analysis showed that children in the highest quartile for parental-reported intake of whole grain products or fish were significantly less likely to have asthma than those in the lowest quartile. And the relationships held after maternal education, foreign descent, and total energy intake were taken into account.
Specifically, children in the highest versus the lowest quartiles for whole grain and fish intake benefited from 54% and 66% decreased relative risks of current asthma, respectively. The corresponding risk reductions for atopic asthma with bronchial hyper-responsiveness were even greater, at 72% and 88%.
Similar results were seen for current wheeze with bronchial hyper-responsiveness, with risk reductions for children in the highest versus the lowest quartiles of whole grain and fish intakes of 45% and 56%, respectively.
Tabak et al say their findings “suggest that a high intake of whole grain products and fish may have a protective effect against asthma in children,” but concede that “causal inferences cannot be made.”
They conclude: “Prospective studies in which dietary factors (fish and whole grain products, but preferably also fruits and vegetables) and asthma are monitored and trials into the effect of dietary modification on, for example, airway inflammation are needed to clarify this issue.”
Thorax 2006; 61: 1048-1053
(Dec. 2006) 

 

 

 

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