PROCESSED FOODS!
Increased meat consumption associated with symptoms of childhood asthma
Substances present in cooked meats are associated with increased wheezing in children, Mount Sinai researchers report. Their study, published in Thorax, highlights pro-inflammatory compounds called advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) as an example of early dietary risk factors that may have broad clinical and public health implications for the prevention of inflammatory airway disease.
Asthma prevalence among children in the United States has risen over the last few decades. Researchers found that dietary habits established earlier in life may be associated with wheezing and potentially the future development of asthma.
Researchers examined 4,388 children between 2 and 17 years old from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a program of the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is designed to evaluate the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States through interviews and physical examinations.
The researchers used NHANES survey data to evaluate associations between dietary AGE and meat consumption frequencies, and respiratory symptoms. They found that higher AGE intake was significantly associated with increased odds of wheezing, importantly including wheezing that disrupted sleep and exercise, and that required prescription medication. Similarly, higher intake of non-seafood meats was associated with wheeze-disrupted sleep and wheezing that required prescription medication.
"We found that higher consumption of dietary AGEs, which are largely derived from intake of non-seafood meats, was associated with increased risk of wheezing in children, regardless of overall diet quality or an established diagnosis of asthma," said Jing Gennie Wang, MD, lead author of the study, and a former fellow in Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
"Research identifying dietary factors that influence respiratory symptoms in children is important, as these risks are potentially modifiable and can help guide health recommendations. Our findings will hopefully inform future longitudinal studies to further investigate whether these specific dietary components play a role in childhood airways disease such as asthma," said Sonali Bose, MD, senior author, and Assistant Professor of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Pediatrics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
###
About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care--from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty by U.S. News & World Report.
For more information, visit https:/
Inflammatory compounds found in cooked meat linked to childhood wheeze
AGEs are by-products of high temperature cooking, such as grilling, frying, or roasting
Inflammatory compounds found in cooked meat are linked to a heightened risk of childhood wheeze, finds research published online in the journal Thorax.
The compounds, known as advanced glycation end products, or AGEs for short, are by-products of high temperature cooking, such as grilling, frying, or roasting, with cooked meat a major dietary source.
AGEs lock on to particular 'danger signal' cells in the body, which are particularly abundant in the lungs, triggering an inflammatory immune system response. But it's not clear how they might influence the development of respiratory symptoms.
To explore this further, the researchers looked at the potential impact of dietary AGE intake and meat consumption on respiratory symptoms, drawing on responses to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 2003 to 2006.
NHANES is a nationally representative annual survey assessing the health and nutrition of the US population.
The researchers included 4388 children aged 2-17 years, for whom information on dietary patterns, assessed by the 139-item Food Frequency Questionnaire, and respiratory symptoms were available. The quantity of AGEs consumed was calculated from the responses to the Food Frequency Questionnaire.
Some 537 (13%) of the children said they had experienced wheezing over the past year. After accounting for potentially influential factors, such as age, sex, race/ethnicity, household income, weight (BMI), and asthma, higher AGE scores were significantly associated with increased odds of wheezing (18%).
They were also associated with increased odds of disturbed sleep due to wheezing (26%) at least once; wheezing during exercise (34%); and wheezing requiring medication (35%) over the past year.
Similarly, higher intake of all types of meats was associated with a more than doubling in the odds of sleep disrupted by wheezing and the need for medication to ease symptoms.
This is an observational study and so can't establish cause, added to which there is no validated method of measuring AGE intake, caution the researchers. But the findings back those of other research linking a proinflammatory dietary pattern and wheezing, they say.
"As several cohort studies have suggested an adverse effect of meat consumption on paediatric airways health, confirmation of a positive correlation between AGE intake and non-seafood meat consumption in our cohort strengthens our a priori hypothesis that dietary AGEs may have an important role in airway inflammation in children," they write.
The Western dietary pattern, characterised by high levels of AGE-rich foods--meats and saturated fats, may promote an inflammatory cascade, so contributing to airway inflammation and possibly the development of asthma, they explain.
In a linked editorial, Professor Jonathan Grigg, Centre for Child Health, University of Queen Mary, London, observes that a growing body of evidence implicates AGEs in the development of asthma.
"Although we are far from having enough evidence to recommend changes in meat consumption in children in order to reduce asthma, a focus on adverse respiratory effects of consuming large amounts of cooked meats resonates with wider agendas," he suggests.
This includes the 2020 UK Health Alliance on Climate Change report which concluded that red meat consumption will need to be halved if the food system is to stay within sustainable environmental limits.
"Irrespective of the adverse health effects of AGEs, it may therefore now be time to advocate a diet with smaller amounts of higher-quality and more sustainable cooked meat," he concludes.
###
Externally peer reviewed? Yes
Evidence type: Survey data; opinion
Subjects: Children
No comments:
Post a Comment