An article posted online in Thorax on January 14, 2013 finds that children and teens who eat three or more servings of fast food per week have a significantly increased risk of severe asthma. The same fast food intake was also associated with increased risk of eczema and rhinitis, while fruit consumption was found to have an inverse association with severe asthma and allergies.
The authors report findings from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three, which surveyed over 180,000 6-7 year olds in more than 30 countries and more than 319,000 13-14 year olds in over 50 countries. The children and teens were asked about their intake of various types of foods and about their asthma and allergy symptoms.
The authors suggest that “Biologically plausible mechanisms for the relationship between fast food consumption and asthma and allergic disease could be related to higher saturated fatty acids, trans fatty acids, sodium, carbohydrates and sugar levels of fast food and possibly preservatives.” Although only fast food was consistently associated with increased symptoms in both age groups, frequent consumption of butter, margarine, and pasta were also associated with asthma in the teens.
They conclude that, ““If the associations between fast foods and the symptom prevalence of asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and eczema is causal, then the findings have major public health significance owing to the rising consumption of fast foods globally.”
Read the abstract.
