Junk Food Raises Asthma Risk

a girl having trouble breathing while eating junk food

Eating junk food more than three times a week appears to increase the likelihood of childhood asthma and eczema, according to a new study of more than a half million kids. The study indicates that poor diets may be why these allergy-related conditions are rising worldwide.

Young teens are almost 40 percent more likely to have severe asthma if they eat junk foods high in sugar and fat more than three times a week. Such foods were also linked to severe eczema and rhinitis.

On the positive side, eating fruit more than three times a week was found to curtail some symptoms. The researchers looked at data from more than 50 countries as part of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood.

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"Do Fast Foods Cause Asthma, Rhinoconjunctivitis and Eczema? Global Findings from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) Phase Three" by P. Ellwood et al., Thorax, 1/14/13