HYDERABAD: Highlighting the link between diet and asthma, Dr Salma Shaikh pointed out that dependence on fast food instead of eating fruits and vegetables was the cause of increasing asthma among children.
Senior pediatrician at Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro Dr. Salma Shaikh, talking to APP here on Tuesday, was of the view that fresh and dry fruits were out for many Pakistani children and had been replaced by cookies, colas, candies etc and it is worrying the pediatricians who believe that diets rich in junk food could be the culprits behind the rapid rise of asthma and allergies in children.
Pakistani children seem to be gone through a palate change with desire for fast food and processed meals, she said adding that thousands of children from 6 to 14 year age bracket, in posh residences as well as slums, were tested for asthma and allergies and results showed prevalence of asthma was 19 percent and allergic rhinitis was more than 30 percent among them. In a comparison of some 100 children with asthma symptoms and about 200 non-asthmatic children in Pakistan, it showed that those who had the lowest intakes of vegetables, milk, vitamin-E and minerals were more likely to suffer from the disease.
Dr Salma Shaikh said that the children whose diets were low in vegetables and vitamin-E were two to three times more likely to develop asthmatic symptoms than other children irrespective of other factors such as family size, affluence and parental smoking. “Parents and teachers need to identify asthma as a growing problem and most important is that we must relearn our eating habits” she emphasized.
Dr Salma said that asthma, the most common chronic childhood disease, is one of the fastest growing ailments, with cases increasing by up to 50 per cent every 10 years. According to reports, around 150 million people worldwide suffer from the condition, she added. She said that the eating hamburgers, chips and fat-loaded junk foods could be addictive and put on weight may involve more than simply a loss of self-control. She informed that a recent research indicated that processed foods like pre-made frozen dinners, chips, sodas, cookies, crackers and fast foods also leads to high blood pressure and diabetes.
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