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 Researchers studied what children ate at age eight and then
monitored whether they developed nasal inflammation due to allergies
or colds by age 16. Regular consumption of oily fish like salmon was
linked a reduced risk of allergic rhinitis, or inflammation of the
mucus membrane inside nasal passages.
While it’s possible that fish consumption may help prevent the
development of rhinitis, a healthy diet complete with a variety of
items from all food groups may have a similar effect in promoting
general wellbeing, said Diana Di Fabio, a pediatric dietician at
Cleveland Clinic Children’s in Ohio.
“Fish consumption at eight years old may simply serve as an
indicator of high dietary quality,” Di Fabio, who wasn’t involved in
the study, said by email.
“Children who are picky eaters may avoid foods high in omega-3
polyunsaturated fats including fish and seafood, walnuts, spinach
and soybeans,” she added. “Similarly, children who are more likely
to consume those foods may also have a more adventurous palate and
be more likely to consume a balanced diet.”
Rhinitis is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood,
note lead study author Jessica Magnusson, a nutritionist at the
Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues in the Journal of
Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
At the start of the study, parents and kids completed questionnaires
detailing how often the children consumed 98 foods and beverages
common in Sweden. For fish, they were asked specifically about oily
varieties such as herring, mackerel and salmon, as well as less oily
alternatives like codfish, Pollock, pike, tuna and fish fingers.
They also asked parents if kids had symptoms of rhinitis, such as
sneezing or runny nose or eye symptoms in contact with furry pets or
pollens after age four, and 19 percent of the children did.
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Among the 1,590 children who didn’t have rhinitis symptoms at age
eight, 21 percent of them developed allergic rhinitis and 15 percent
developed non-allergic rhinitis by age 16.
Total fish consumption didn’t appear related to the development of
rhinitis between the ages of 8 and 16. Nor did fish fingers, or the
less-oily options like tuna and cod.
But eating oily fish was linked to a drop in risk of allergic
rhinitis by roughly half. It was also tied to lowered risk of
non-allergic rhinitis but not enough to rule out the possibility
that the reduction was due to chance.
It’s possible that fish consumption during infancy, or how much fish
mothers ate during pregnancy might have influenced the odds that
children developed rhinitis later in life, the researchers
acknowledge, and they didn’t measure these things in their study.
“Since we don’t eat single nutrients, the take-home message is one
that people hear all the time: eat more plants, less animals,”
Samantha Heller, a nutritionist at New York University's Center for
Musculoskeletal Care and Sports Performance who wasn't involved in
the study, said by email.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1KVzHoq Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology, online July 4, 2015.
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