As You Eat It: Effects of Prenatal Nutrition on Asthma

Overview

Journal J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2018 Feb 8

PMID 29412180

Citations 8

Authors

Kathleen Lee-Sarwar

Augusto A Litonjua

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Asthma most frequently develops early in life, and increased recognition of the role of lifestyle and environmental factors in asthma susceptibility raises the possibility that dietary exposures during pregnancy may influence the risk of asthma in offspring. This review discusses the latest evidence with regard to the effect of diet during pregnancy on childhood asthma risk, including potential mechanisms, outcomes of randomized clinical trials, and results from observational studies. Vitamin D and polyunsaturated fatty acid intake during pregnancy are highlighted as areas with large and growing bodies of literature to support a potential role in prenatal modulation of subsequent asthma risk. Several other nutritional interventions are under active investigation, and recommendations regarding dietary modifications during pregnancy will likely need to be personalized based on factors such as maternal smoking and genetic variants. Although nutrition during pregnancy is uniquely challenging to investigate, and definitive recommendations cannot be made without additional high-quality evidence and knowledge regarding long-term effects of interventions, the modifiable nature of the diet and sizeable potential reduction of morbidity supports ongoing research to determine how to optimize nutrition during pregnancy to prevent asthma in offspring.

Citing Articles

Association of prenatal vitamin E levels with child asthma and wheeze.

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A Comprehensive Look at the Development of Asthma in Children.

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Genetic Architectures of Childhood- and Adult-Onset Asthma Are Partly Distinct.

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