Eating hamburgers could double the chances of asthma in kids

Eating hamburgers could double the chances of asthma in kids

A research conducted on 1300 New Zealand school children found that eating hamburgers more than once in a week is likely to increase the changes of asthma and wheezing twofold. In addition, other types of junk food can also contribute to the probability of a kid falling prey to asthma.

The study which made its way into the international scientific journal Allergy claims children and youth eating even one hamburger per week increase their risk of being struck by asthma by at least 75 percent and also the possibility of undergoing wheezing troubles by as much as 100.

Headed by Dr Kristen Wickens, of the Wellington Asthma Research Group, based at the Wellington medical school, the exploration also involved scrutinizing the importance of lifestyle factors like other foods and also the fatness of the subjects.

Investigators looked at 1321 children (10-12 years) in Hastings, analyzed their dietary habits and also inspected symptoms of asthma in concurrence with the international study of asthma and allergies in childhood known as ISAAC.

Sponsors

Comparisons were made with kids who did not eat hamburgers and it was concluded that hamburgers indeed increased the risk of asthma. The more the number of hamburgers consumed, the higher are the chances of getting asthma attacks.

Dr Wickens feels the high salt content in junk food could be one of the causes.

Developed countries have around 6 per cent population suffering from asthma; New Zealand being the worst hit with 20 per cent. High percentage of youngsters in New Zealand are afflicted by wheezing, breathlessness and tight-chestedness, clear indicators of asthmatic problems.

One school of thought believes that westernized eating habits, minimal exercising and pollution are some of the major causes for asthma.

However a contradiction is very much evident when you look at Tokyo and the Scottish island of Skye. While the former has higher pollution levels than Wellington, it still records only 1/5th cases of asthma as compared to Wellington. On the other hand, Skye despite being pollution-less and yet has the highest figure of asthma cases in Britain.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a spine-chilling revelation that 4,261 deaths were caused due to asthma in the US in 2003.