title: Association of nutrient intake and wheeze or asthma in a Greek pre-school population.
abstract: The rise of asthma prevalence in children observed the last years might be related to several dietary factors/components as suggested by several researchers. We aimed to evaluate the potential relationship between certain nutrients intake and asthma occurrence in a population of pre-school children. In the framework of the cross-sectional study 'Growth, Exercise and Nutrition Epidemiological Study In pre-schoolers', data were collected from 1964 children, aged 24-72 months, living in five different counties in Greece. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire was used to assess asthma related outcomes. Dietary intake was assessed with 3 days diet records. The prevalence of ever wheeze, current wheeze and diagnosed asthma was 37.7%, 27.5% and 10.5% respectively. Dietary intake of magnesium had a 0.5% and 0.6% increase in the reported risk of current wheeze and diagnosed asthma respectively. On the contrary a decrease in the prevalence of ever (OR: 0.997, 95% CI: 0.995-1.000) and current wheeze (OR: 0.996, 95% CI: 0.993-0.999) was associated with vitamin C intake. Calcium intake slightly decreased the risk of current wheeze (OR: 0.999, 95% CI: 0.998-0.999). An increase of 2% of the risk of reporting ever or current wheeze was associated with mono-unsaturated fatty acid intake. Magnesium intake was the only independent predictor for doctor's diagnosed asthma. We conclude that dietary intake of vitamin C and calcium seem to have a protective effect on the incidence of wheeze in pre-school children, whereas magnesium and mono-unsaturated fatty acid may have a harmful role.
authors.affiliation: Allergy Research Center, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. eviemmanouil@yahoo.gr
authors.forename: Evdokia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Emmanouil
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Manios
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grammatikaki
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondaki
authors.forename: Evdokia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oikonomou
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.forename: Emilia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vassilopoulou
mesh_terms: D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002118:Calcium; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008274:Magnesium; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000175:diagnosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D008274:Magnesium; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; D002118:Calcium