Asthma and eczema due to fast food

Fast food increases the risk of allergic diseases such as asthma or hay fever

15/01/2013

Fast food increases the risk of asthma, hay fever and atopic dermatitis, whereas the consumption of fruit counteracts these diseases, according to one of the key findings of the now published „Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood“ (ISAAC). Already in the 1990s, scientists had begun with the survey of 720,000 children in 56 states. The researchers wanted to know, among other things, what are the relationships between the diet of children and the occurrence of asthma and allergies.

All in all, the data of almost two million children from more than one hundred states has been recorded and evaluated within the framework of the ISAAC. The now in the trade magazine „thorax“ published results show a worrying link between the fast-food consumption of children to the occurrence of allergic diseases such as asthma, hay fever or atopic dermatitis (atopic dermatitis). For example, children who consumed fast food products at least three times a week were significantly more likely to be ill. The increased consumption of fruit, however, counteracted the disease risk. The ISAAC is the largest epidemiological study to date on childhood allergic diseases. German scientists from the Universities of Münster and Ulm also participated in the study.

Relationship between eating habits and the allergy risk
The researchers, led by Philippa Ellwood from the University of Auckland in New Zealand, investigated dietary habits and symptoms of allergic skin or respiratory disease in children. A written questionnaire identified the prevalence of asthma, hay fever and eczema, as well as the nature and frequency of food intake over the past 12 months among 13- to 14-year-old adolescents and between the ages of six and seven. Although a large number of individual foods were queried, a clear connection with the allergic respiratory and skin diseases resulted only in the consumption of fast food and fruit. For example, 13 to 14-year-olds who consumed fast food three times a week or more experienced a 39 percent increase in the risk of asthma. The six to seven year olds with corresponding fast food consumption showed a 27% increased risk of severe asthma. For adolescents who consume fruit three times or more per week, the magnitude of such disease symptoms has decreased by eleven to fourteen percent, the researchers report.

Causal relationship so far not clearly proven
The clear link between the consumption of fast food and the onset of asthma and Co. is an alarming illustration of the weaknesses in the eating habits of modern industrialized nations. However, researchers have so far failed to establish a causal link between fast food consumption and disease. Further studies are needed to investigate possible compounds. „If the links between fast food and allergic symptoms are causal, our results will be important to public health as fast food consumption increases worldwide“, so the conclusion of the researchers.

Almost with different negative health effects
The consumption of fast food has already been shown to have many negative effects on the human organism in previous studies. In addition to the increased risk of allergy, for example, the researchers of the Universities of Las Palmas, Granada and Navarra in a joint study to increase the occurrence of depression in over-consumption of fast food products to call. Also, an inquiry from researchers at the University of California at San Diego from June 2012 came to the conclusion that increased consumption of trans fat „with negative behaviors like impatience or open aggression“ can go along. The weight problems that many people are developing due to fast food consumption are another negative aspect of this unhealthy diet. Ultimately, given the current scientific knowledge in the interests of their own health, consumers should ideally refrain from eating fast food or at least consume it only in exceptional cases. (Fp)

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Picture: Rudolf Ortner