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Many factors have been attributed to the development of asthma and allergy in children. Proposed causes have included air pollution, personal living environments, hygiene and early infections. More recently, diet and nutritional factors have been included as one of the possible triggers.
The child’s immune system develops prenatally. Maternal diet allows the transfer of certain nutrients across the placenta to the fetus. Therefore it is possible that intrauterine exposure of certain ingredients in foods to the fetus might effect the development of allergy and asthma later in life. Therefore, of particular interest is the association between dairy products and the development of asthma, wheezing, and eczema.
A recent study by Maslova from the Netherlands revealed that low-fat yogurt eaten once a day in pregnant women is associated with an increased risk of asthma and allergic rhinitis in children. The study on which this was based was very large one incorporating approximately 101,042 pregnancies in the Danish population between 1996 and 2002. These same findings, however, were not found to be true for low fat or semi-skimmed milk products in this particular study.
The etiology for this allergy remains unclear. One postulate is that it is due to the sugar, artificial sugars, or the protein content of low fat yogurts. Other theories attribute these findings to the conjugated fatty acids known as CLA (conjugated linoleic acids). These fatty acids have been shown to increase risk of atopy. In fact, products such as margarine , which use CLA to harden margarine, have had reductions in their concentration of this ingredient due to several papers that have shown an increase in allergy due to this substance.
In contrast to the above findings, several studies have shown protective effects with maternal consumption of whole dairy products, calcium, and vitamin D during pregnancy and the later development of wheeze and eczema. Studies by Miyake from Japan in 2010 have shown that maternal intake of whole milk, full fat cheese and calcium during pregnancy resulted in a decreased risk of wheezing in infants aged 16-24 months. Recent findings have also demonstrated that mothers who had increased amounts of vitamin D during pregnancy (4309 ug of vitamin D or more) also had a significantly reduced risk of wheeze and eczema.
Similar findings were noted by Wijga in 2003. Pre-school children who had frequent consumption of products containing milk fat had reduced risk of developing asthma. The etiology for this finding is also unclear. The protective effects of many of the dairy products during pregnancy on wheezing in infants is believed to be due to the calcium content or some unmeasured component associated with calcium. Higher maternal intake of dietary calcium can effect calcium fluctuations in the fetus. Calcium influx is important in the various stages of development and maturation of lymphocytes which can effect infant immune responses. Some component of low fat yogurt may interfere with this benefit of maternal calcium.
Conclusion:
Studies have shown evidence for a relationship between nutrition and asthma. Pregnant women and young children might have reduced risk of asthma, allergy and wheeze by consuming whole milk products, yogurt and butter over semi-skimmed milk , low fat yogurts, and margarine.
Perhaps the notable increase in the prevalence of asthma, eczema, and allergic rhinitis may be related to the popular reduction in the consumption of saturated fat and the trend towards the increased consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids, in particular linoleic acid. Postnatally, it has been found that high dietary intake of certain polyunsaturated fatty acids has been associated with increased risk of allergy in children so it is conceivable that exposure to the fetus prenatally may also sensitize the fetus to allergy and eczema later in life.
Tags: asthma in babies is caused by eating what during pregnancy?, dairy and pregnancy, diet and pregnancy, eating dairy while pregnant, low fat yogurt and pregnancy, nutrition and pregnancy, pregnancy diet, yougurt and pregnancy
