According to the recent research, children who tuck into three or more burgers a week are more likely to suffer from asthma and wheezing. But they claim the extra risk may not be caused by the meat-rich diet itself, but by a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables.
The study, which looked at 50,000 children from 20 countries, found a Mediterranean-style diet cut youngsters’ risk of asthma. Parents were asked about their children’s eating habits and whether they had ever suffered from asthma or wheezing.
Those who ate a diet rich in fruit were less likely to complain of wheezing in both rich and poor countries, says a report in the journal Thorax. Eating three or more burgers a week was linked to a higher risk, especially in rich countries. However, a diet generally high in meat did not increase the risk, which led the researchers to conclude that other lifestyle factors could be involved.
Asthma rates have doubled in the last 20 years, at the same time as consumption of processed food has soared. Dr Gabriele Nagel of Ulm University, Germany, said: ‘Fruit and vegetables contain antioxidants and other biologically active factors which may contribute to the favourable effect of fruit consumption in asthma.’
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