The Association between Recent Dietary Pattern as a Risk Factor of 12-month Asthma Symptom Prevalence in Korean Elementary School Children

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the impact of dietary pattern on the risk of asthma development, we undertook a nation-wide study with ISSAC written questionnaire.

Methods: We analyzed the relations between the previous 12-month dietary patterns (16 food groups) and asthma symptom prevalence, using the ISSAC written questionnaire and a domestically developed dietary questionnaire in 24,260 elementary school children.

Results: Odds ratios (OR) were significantly decreased by increased food intake of natural seafood (OR:0.88, P=0.0126, 95% CI:0.795-0.973), fruit (OR:0.785, P<0.0001, 95% CI:0.715-0.861), vegetables (OR:0.825, P<0.0001, 95% CI:0.764-0.891), and cow’s milk (OR:0.9, P=0.0451, 95% CI:0.811-0.998). Compared to children that seldom consumed natural seafood, ORs of symptom development were lower in children that ate natural seafood 1-2 times per week (OR:0.863, P=0.028, 95% CI:0.761-0.978) and almost everyday (OR:0.802, P=0.0755, 95% CI:0.630-1.023), respectively. For green vegetables, ORs were significantly lower than in children who also ate gree vegetables 1-2 times per week (OR:0.753, P=0.0416, 95% CI:0.595-0.950) and almost everyday (OR:0.674, P=0.0179, 95% CI:0.408-0.752), respectively. Fruits showed the same pattern as green vegetables.

Conclusion: Taken together, our study shows that the increased intake of natural seafood, fruit, and vegetables is significantly related to reduced asthma symptom prevalence in Korean children.