Study Links Fast Food to Severe Asthma in Teens

A study published on Monday in the journal Thorax has linked fast food consumption to an increased risk of asthma and allergies in children. Researchers looked at more than 500,000 children in 51 different nations to weigh how much influence that eating fast food on a regular basis may have on their overall health.

Scientists found that the more fast food a child ate, the more likely they were to go on to develop asthma. Conversely, children who ate more fruit, even if they still didn't eat as many servings per day as nutritionists generally recommend, showed a decreased risk of developing asthma.

Here is some of the other key information that has emerged regarding the findings of this new study.

* Researchers looked at the effect that regular fast food consumption had, not only on the children's risk of developing asthma and allergies, but also of developing eczema. For all three issues, regular fast food consumption appeared to increase the chances that an adolescent or child would go on to develop the condition.

* Fruit, on the other hand, even when consumed as seldom as three times a week, appeared to have what scientists dubbed "protective powers," according to the report in Thorax.

* The study looked at the differing effects of regular fast food consumption on two different age groups --children between 6 and 7 years old and adolescents between 13 and 14 years old.

* Regular fast food consumption appeared to increase the odds that a child or adolescent would develop asthma, allergies, or eczema the most if it happened three or more times per week, according to the report in Thorax.

* As The Guardian noted in its report on the study, the risk appeared to increase more for adolescents than for younger children. Adolescents had an increased risk of developing asthma of nearly 40 percent, while for younger children that increased risk stood at 27 percent.

* Even small amounts of fruit, conversely, appeared to reduce the risk for teenagers of developing asthma by 11 percent, while it reduced the risk among younger children by nearly 14 percent.

* U.S. News and World Report noted that while the study showed a link between fast food consumption and the risk of developing asthma, allergies, or eczema, this particular body of research did not determine a strictly causal relationship between fast food and severe asthma.

* Researchers that worked on the study told the media on Monday that they believe that it is the levels of trans and saturated fat that are present in fast food that may be the culprit in their findings.

Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in health and nutrition issues.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/study-links-fast-food-severe-asthma-teens-171600869.html

budweiser shootout animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston r kelly