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By: Alok Jha
The Guardian

Children who eat a diet that has plenty of fruit, vegetables and fish can cut their risk of developing asthma and allergies, according to research that has monitored more than 400 youngsters for the first six years of their lives.

Leda Chatzi, of the social medicine department at the University of Crete, Greece, said: "We believe this is the first study that has assessed the impact of a child's diet on asthma and allergies and also taken into account the food mothers ate during pregnancy."

The study results, published in the September issue of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, showed that the prevalence of asthma and wheezing in children who daily ate more than 40gm (about 1.4oz) of fruit-like vegetables, such as tomatoes, aubergines, cucumbers, green beans and courgettes, was 4.5%. For those eating fewer vegetables of these types the prevalence rates were around 10%.

Rates of allergies were 13% for those who ate a lot of vegetables and 22% for those with a low intake. Children who ate more than 60gm of fish a day had asthma and wheezing prevalence rates of 7%; those eating less had rates of around 11%.

Fruits and vegetables are known to be rich sources of antioxidant chemicals, such as vitamins C and E, selenium and flavonoids. These are all thought to reduce inflammation of the airways by protecting the cells there against damage. And fish is a source of polyunsaturated fats.

The mothers of the 232 boys and 228 girls in the study completed questionnaires on their children's health, weight, diet, and breathing problems, every year until their offspring were aged six-and-a-half.

The researchers said there were limitations to the study, with some children anyway having a generally healthier lifestyle. But when such factors were taken into account there were still no "significant confounding effects" altering the outcome of the research.

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