Children whose mothers’ diets lacked vitamins D and E during pregnancy appear more likely to develop asthma, according to research.

The University of Aberdeen study also suggests the underlying cause of asthma may be an effect present at birth in cells lining the airways.

Researchers investigated the “dietary hypothesis” put forward by Professor Anthony Seaton more than 20 years ago, which proposed that changing diet was important to the increasing number of asthma cases in the UK at the time.

The team measured mothers’ vitamin E levels when they were 10 weeks pregnant by taking blood samples and measured vitamin D intake with a questionnaire.

After the children were born, researchers took small swabs of cells from the inside the babies’ noses and grew them in a laboratory.

Vitamin D is primarily gained from exposure to sunlight, though small amounts are found in fatty fish, egg yolks, some types of mushroom and beef liver. It is considered to be an important factor in the development of the immune system.

Vitamin E can help protect against heart disease, cancer and age-related eye damage and is thought to be an important growth factor for airway cells. It is found in a variety of foods such as green vegetables, nuts, grains and seeds.

The results have been published in the European Respiratory Journal and Clinical & Experimental Allergy.

Graham Devereux, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Aberdeen, said: “The Seaton cohort, named after its founder, is the longest running study designed to link mother’s diet during pregnancy to childhood asthma.

“The importance of the 10-year findings is that asthma symptoms often go away during childhood but the link with maternal diet which we saw in five-year-olds is still present at age 10, so the link is persistent.”

Steve Turner, a senior lecturer at the university, said: “Our work aims to explore whether or not there is a definite link between mothers’ diets and their children’s chance of developing asthma.

“If we find that higher vitamin D and E levels are associated with better airway cell function, it would suggest a connection between a good maternal diet making for a better set of lungs and therefore a reduced risk of asthma.

“This study is just a small step towards proving mums’ diets actually do matter and it does influence what’s happening with the unborn child. But this is a complicated subject because people’s diets are so closely linked to their lifestyles, so there are a number of other factors that could influence their children’s health.”

 

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