Fast food linked to asthma in kids

Paediatrician says Pakistani children now choose cookies over fruit

Highlighting the link between diet and asthma, a doctor says dependence on fast food instead of fruits and vegetables was a cause of increasing asthma among children.

Senior paediatrician at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro, Dr Salma Shaikh, said in an interview with APP yesterday that for many Pakistani children fruits had been replaced by cookies and colas, a trend worrying paediatricians, who believe diets rich in junk food could be behind the rapid rise of asthma and allergies in children.

Pakistani children seem to have gone through a palate change with a desire for fast food and processed meals now, she said, adding that thousands of children from the six to 14 age bracket, in posh residences as well as slums, were tested for asthma and allergies. Prevalence of asthma was 19 per cent and allergic rhinitis was more than 30 per cent among them.

In a comparison of some 100 kids with asthma symptoms and about 200 non-asthmatic kids in Pakistan, those who had the lowest intakes of vegetables, milk, vitamin E and minerals were seen to be more likely to suffer from the disease. Dr Shaikh said kids whose diets were low in vegetables and vitamin E were 2-3 times more likely to develop asthmatic symptoms than other kids irrespective of factors like family size, affluence and parental smoking.