Your Childrens Health

From 1980 to 1996, asthma prevalence among children increased by an average of 4.3% per year, from 3.6% to 6.2%.  It accounts for 14 million lost days of school missed annually and is the third-ranking cause of hospitalization among those younger than 15 years of age. The estimated cost of treating asthma in children under 18 is and estimated $3.2 billion per year.  The most troubling part about this epidemic is that there seem to be no cure for asthma.

However, new research is bringing hope to the epidemic and may prevent future asthma cases.  Feeding fruit and vegetables every day to your baby who is on solids may protect his respiratory system later in life.  Norweigan researchers studied the diets of 502 children with asthma and without asthma.  They discovered that a daily intake of fresh fruit or vegetables during infancy decreased the kid’s risk of developing asthma by 43 percent as compared with those babies who were not fed this produce.

The researchers speculated that the antioxidants (compounds that protect cells from damage) in the fruit and vegetables helped reduce inflammation in the airways of the child.  The recent research provides yet another reason that fresh fruits and vegetables should be incorporated into your child’s diet.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 31st, 2006 at 1:40 am and is filed under Uncategorized, Medical Care, Allergies, Diet and Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.