Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.
Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg 2094, South Africa.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018 Mar 13;15(3):502. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15030502.
Respiratory health outcomes are among the top five causes of child morbidity and mortality around the world. We aimed to investigate possible food-related risk and protective factors for respiratory health outcomes in children. Structured questionnaires completed by primary caregivers of 10-year old children were used to collect information on demographics, socio-economic status, house characteristics and child respiratory health status. Upper (URIs) and Lower (LRIs) respiratory illnesses comprised hay fever, and wheezing, asthma and bronchitis, respectively. Eight hundred questionnaires were distributed, 648 retrieved and 420 completed in full (52.5% response rate). The hay fever 6-month prevalence was 22.4% and wheezing had the highest 6-month prevalence among the LRIs (13.8%). The majority of children ate vegetables (75.5%), fruit (69.3%) and chicken or fish (81.7%) regularly. Nearly half of the children (45.5%) regularly ate processed food. Eating processed food regularly was statistical significantly associated with wheeze (Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.38-5.08), hay fever (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.09-2.64) and bronchitis (OR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06-2.56). The study found an association between regular consumption of processed foods and wheeze, hay fever and bronchitis among 10 year old children. The regular consumption of processed food plays a role in adverse respiratory health effects among children and healthy eating is emphasized.
在全球范围内，儿童的呼吸健康问题是导致发病率和死亡率的前五大原因之一。本研究旨在探讨与食物相关的可能风险和保护因素对儿童呼吸健康结果的影响。通过对 10 岁儿童的主要照顾者进行结构化问卷调查，收集人口统计学、社会经济地位、住房特征和儿童呼吸健康状况等信息。上呼吸道感染（URIs）和下呼吸道感染（LRIs）分别包括花粉热和喘息、哮喘和支气管炎。共发放了 800 份问卷，回收了 648 份，其中 420 份完整填写（52.5%的回复率）。花粉热的 6 个月患病率为 22.4%，而 LRIs 中喘息的 6 个月患病率最高（13.8%）。大多数儿童经常食用蔬菜（75.5%）、水果（69.3%）和鸡肉或鱼类（81.7%）。将近一半的儿童（45.5%）经常食用加工食品。经常食用加工食品与喘息（调整后的优势比（OR）=2.65；95%置信区间（CI）：1.38-5.08）、花粉热（OR=1.62；95%CI：1.09-2.64）和支气管炎（OR=1.27；95%CI：1.06-2.56）显著相关。本研究发现，10 岁儿童经常食用加工食品与喘息、花粉热和支气管炎之间存在关联。经常食用加工食品会对儿童的呼吸健康产生不利影响，因此强调健康饮食的重要性。
