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Mediterraan dieet goed en hamburgers slecht tegen astma*
Uit een grote langjarige studie onder 50.000 kinderen wereldwijd blijkt dat het eten van drie of meer hamburgers per week een veel grotere kans geeft op astma en een piepende adem terwijl daarentegen het eten van een meer mediterraan dieet, met meer vis, veel fruit en groenten de kansen duidelijk doen afnemen.
Burgers Raise Asthma Risk While Mediterranean Diet Staves Off The Risk
Children who eat at least three burgers each week may have a higher risk of developing asthma and wheeze, say researchers who completed an international study published in the journal Thorax. The researchers say the risk is probably applicable worldwide, and definitely in developed nations. 
On the other hand, a Mediterranean diet, with plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish appears to have the opposite effect, say the scientists. 
The researchers, from Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain based their findings on data gathered between 1995 and 2005 on 50,000 children worldwide, aged between 8 and 12 years. The children came from developed, middle- and low-income nations. 
Parents were asked about their children's diet and whether there had ever been a diagnosis of asthma, as well as any wheezing. 
Nearly 30,000 children were tested for allergic reactions, to determine whether diet might also influence their risk of developing allergies. 
Diet did not appear to be linked to sensitization to common allergens, such as tree or grass pollen. However, diet did appear to influence asthma and wheeze prevalence. 
The scientists reported that high fruit consumption was linked to low wheeze rate among children in both developed and developing countries. 
In developed countries it was found that a diet rich in fish protected children, while a diet high in cooked green vegetables protected children in developing nations. 
Generally, a diet high in fruit, vegetables and fish - a Mediterranean diet - was associated with a lower lifetime prevalence of asthma and wheeze, the researchers wrote. 
The consumption of at least three burgers a week was associated with a higher lifetime prevalence of asthma and wheeze, especially among children in developed countries with no allergies. 
A high-meat diet was found to have no influence on asthma or wheeze risk. 
The authors explain that fruit and vegetables are rich in antioxidant vitamins and biologically active agents, while the omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids found in fish have anti-inflammatory properties, so there are biologically plausible links for the findings. 
Burger consumption could be a proxy for other lifestyle factors, they add, particularly as the increased asthma risk associated with it was not found in poor countries. 
"Effect of diet on asthma and allergic sensitisation in the International Study on Allergies and Asthma in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Two"
Thorax 2010; 65: 516-22 
doi:10.1136/thx.2009.128256 (Augustus 2010)