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Diet quality, asthma and airway inflammation in school-aged children

M Rodrigues1, F de Castro Mendes2,3, I Paciência4,5

  • 1Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.

European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
|June 8, 2023
PubMed

Insights

A healthier diet may reduce asthma risk in children. Improved diet quality was linked to lower airway inflammation and fewer asthma diagnoses in non-overweight/obese children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
  • Nutritional Epidemiology
  • Respiratory Medicine

Background:

  • Asthma prevalence is rising globally, especially in children.
  • Poor dietary quality is also a growing concern in pediatric populations.
  • Limited research exists on the impact of overall dietary patterns on childhood asthma.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between diet quality and asthma prevalence and airway inflammation in school-aged children.
  • To analyze these associations based on body mass index (BMI) categories.
  • To explore the relationship between the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 and respiratory health markers.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 660 children (aged 7-12 years).
  • Diet quality assessed using the HEI-2015, categorized into tertiles.
  • Asthma diagnosis, medication use, lung function, and exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) were measured; BMI categorized as non-overweight/obese or overweight/obese.

Main Results:

  • Among non-overweight/obese children, higher HEI-2015 scores (2nd tertile) were associated with significantly reduced odds of elevated eNO (OR 0.43), asthma diagnosis (OR 0.18), and asthma treatment (OR 0.12) compared to the lowest tertile.
  • These protective associations were observed in children with healthier dietary patterns.
  • No significant associations were found in the overweight/obese group (results not detailed in abstract).

Conclusions:

  • Higher diet quality is associated with lower airway inflammation and reduced asthma prevalence in non-overweight/obese school-aged children.
  • Dietary interventions may play a role in managing or preventing asthma in this demographic.
  • Further research is needed to confirm these findings and explore mechanisms in different BMI categories.
Abstract

Keywords:
Asthmaairway inflammationchildrendiet qualityobesity

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