Vis tegen eczeem bij baby’s*
Uit een grote Zweedse studie onder ruim 8.000 families en bijna 5.000 baby’s blijkt dat het toevoegen van
vis aan het menu van baby’s voordat ze negen maanden oud zijn de kans op het krijgen van allergische eczeem wel met 25% doet verminderen. Eczeem en andere allergische aandoeningen komen steeds meer voor zeker als de ouders of een broer en zus de allergie ook hebben. De eerste verschijnselen kunnen al bij 4 maanden beginnen, 13% van de baby’s vertoont al verschijnselen bij 6 maanden, als ze een jaar oud zijn heeft ca. 20% er last van. Andere omstandigheden zoals duur van de borstvoeding,
tijdstip van introductie vaste voeding en de aanwezigheid van huisdieren bleken geen invloed te hebben met daarop een uitzondering; het hebben van een vogel in huis
doet de kans op eczeem ook flink verminderen.
Fishy Diet In Early Infancy Cuts Eczema Risk
An infant diet that includes fish before the age of 9 months curbs the risk of developing eczema, indicates research published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in
Childhood.
The prevalence of atopic eczema and other allergic disease has risen sharply in developed countries in recent decades, say the authors. Environmental and dietary factors are thought to play a part.
The researchers quizzed the parents of 6 month old babies born in western Sweden in 2003 about their child's diet and any evidence of allergic eczema. They were quizzed again when the children reached the age of 12
months.
The children were all part of an ongoing health study, Infants of Western Sweden, which is tracking the long term health of almost 17000
babies.
Complete birth data and two sets of questionnaires were obtained for almost 5000 of the 8000 families
contacted.
At six months, 13% of families said that their youngest child had already developed eczema. By the time the children had reached 12 months of age, one in five had the
condition.
The average age at which first symptoms appeared was 4 months.
Genes had a significant impact. Children with a sibling or mother who had the condition were almost twice as likely to be affected by the age of 12 months.
But breast feeding, the age at which dairy products were introduced into the diet, and keeping a furry pet in the house had no impact on risk. Around one in five households had a pet.
However, the introduction of fish into the diet before the age of 9 months cut the risk of developing the disease by 25%. And a pet bird was also associated with a significant reduction in risk.
"Early introduction of fish decreases the risk of eczema in infants"
Online First Arch Dis Child doi 10.1136/adc.2008.140418
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of eczema in infants has increased in western societies. It has been suggested that environmental factors and the introduction of food affect the risk of eczema.
Aims: To investigate the current prevalence of eczema among infants in western Sweden, to describe current patterns of food introduction and to assess risk factors for eczema at one year of age.
Methods: Data were obtained from a prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort of infants born in the region of western Sweden in 2003; 8176 families (50% of the birth cohort) were randomly selected and, at six months of age, they received an invitation to participate, together with a questionnaire. The families that agreed received another questionnaire when the infants were twelve months old. Answers to both questionnaires and Medical birth register data were obtained for 4921 infants, i.e. 60.2% of the originally selected population.
Results: At one year of age, 20.9% of the infants had previous or current eczema. The median age at onset was four months. In the multivariable analysis, a familial occurrence of eczema, especially in siblings (OR 1.87; 95% confidence interval 1.50-2.33) or the mother (OR 1.4; 95% CI 1.30-1.84), remained as an independent risk factor. Beneficial effects of introducing fish before nine months of age (OR 0.76; 95% CI 0.62-0.94) and having a bird in the home (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.17-0.75) were seen. We found no effects from short-term breast-feeding, the age at which milk or eggs were introduced, a cat or dog in the home or parental smoking.
Conclusions: One in five infants suffer from eczema during its first year of life. A familial occurrence of eczema increased the risk. Beneficial effects were seen from introducing fish before nine months of age or having a bird in the home. The duration of breast-feeding or the age at which milk or eggs were introduced did not affect the risk of eczema.
(November
2008)
