Low vitamin E intake linked to an increased risk of childhood asthma

Low vitamin E intake linked to an increased risk of childhood asthma

A new study has indicated that women who consume too little vitamin E when they are pregnant, have children who are at higher risk for developing asthma by the time they are five years old. The study was conducted by a researchers group at the University of Aberdeen and was led by Dr. Graham Devereux, department of environmental and occupational medicine, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

The study
The research team studied the diets of 2000 pregnant women along with their children over a period of five years. The team evaluated the nutritional intake of the pregnant women since conception and medical histories of the women related to respiratory matters like asthma, wheezing etc. The same data was also collected for the children of these pregnant women besides their being tested for signs of asthma at the ages of six months, one year, two years and five years respectively.

Study results
The researchers found that children born to mothers, whose consumption of vitamin E during pregnancy was lowest, were at a five times more risk of suffering asthma as compared to their counterparts, whose mothers had the highest consumption of vitamin E during pregnancy. Dietary intake of other nutrients was not associated with a higher risk for wheezing or asthma. On the other hand, less intake of vitamin E during pregnancy was linked with an increased likelihood of the children developing early persistent asthma and wheezing, by the time they were five years old. The researchers also found that the child's own diet at the age of five, did not appear to have any impact on their risk of developing asthma.

Dr Devereux said that the findings suggested that vitamin E had a dual effect – on lung function and airway inflammation. Since the baby's airways are fully developed 16 weeks after conception, the intake of vitamin E during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy was more likely to influence the airway function rather than vitamin E intake later on said the researchers. "This study has shown that foods rich in vitamin E may influence the development of childhood asthma and a diet low in foods containing vitamin E during pregnancy is associated with increased asthma and reduced lung function in children at the age of five," said Dr Devereux. "It is possible that declining intake of vitamin E in the last 50 years may have contributed to the increase in asthma in children. The potential importance of this study is that in the future it may be possible to reduce the risk of asthma in children by changing the diet of mothers during pregnancy. However, further work needs to be carried out before specific advice can be given to pregnant mothers.” Dr Devereux also cautioned women to eat a healthy balanced diet during pregnancy and not to take vitamin E supplements just because of this study.

Vegetarian dietary sources of vitamin E include vegetable oils, margarine, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, nuts and green leafy vegetables. Non vegetarian sources of vitamin E include meat and fish.

The study details have been published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in their September issue.