Poor Diet Linked to Increase in Childhood Asthma

If you’re an asthma sufferer, you’re well aware that attacks can come suddenly or gradually, last for minutes or days, and cause considerable distress and frustration. You’re also probably familiar with the classic symptoms of asthma: shortness of breath, coughing, tightness and itchiness in the chest and throat, and wheezing.

Asthma is more common in children than adults, although in both the list of potential causes is long and varied. The influence of diet on asthma has not been adequately considered in research - at least until now. In a study performed in Saudi Arabia, 114 children with a reported history of asthma and/or wheeze were compared with 202 children with no such history.

Among the variables found to be associated with asthma was diet, specifically eating at fast food outlets, consuming low levels of vegetables, milk, fiber, vitamin E, magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium. The authors suggest that dietary factors during childhood are an important predictor of this condition, concluding: “change in diet has been a determinant of the worldwide increases in asthma and allergies.”

Your doctor of chiropractic can provide you with information on asthma and allergies, while outlining a nutritional program appropriate for you and your children.

Reference:

Hijazi N, Abalkhail B, Seaton A. Diet and childhood asthma in a society in transition: a study in urban and rural Saudi Arabia. Thorax 2000:55, pp775-59.