According to a recent report in the journal Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, kids who eat higher-than-usual amounts of fish and "fruity vegetables" appear to be less likely to develop asthma than kids who eat less of these things. What's a "fruity vegetable," you ask? The researchers defined them as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans and zucchini).
This study in 50 words or less
Spanish researchers followed about 450 kids from before birth (meaning their mothers' diets) to about age 6 and a half. They found those who ate the most fish and fruity vegetables were less likely to develop asthma and allergies than kids who ate less. Other vegetables did not have the same apparent effect.
Yes, but. . .
This study was not a clinical trial--it used food questionnaires to measure intake of the children's diet.
It was conducted on one Mediterranean island off the coast Spain, an environment that may be so different from U.S. populations that some unaccounted-for cultural or geographic factor confounding factor may explain the results. as methodological holes big enough to drive a large piece of construction equipment through--parents filled out food questionnaires.
The report is based on parents' food questionnaires of young children's diet rather than daily measurement of the foods.
- Font size
- Email This
- Bookmark
- Thank you for your input
- Save
- RSS
- Report Abuse
