Vitamin E in pregnancy may affect asthma risk
04 September 2006

Eating a healthy diet with foods rich in vitamin E may influence the development of childhood asthma, according to new research funded by Asthma UK.

Foods such as green leafy vegetables, meat and fish all contain vitamin E and when eaten as part of a healthy balanced diet during pregnancy can affect whether or not your child develops asthma by the age of five.

Dr Graham Devereux of the University of Aberdeen looked at the diets of 2,000 pregnant women and their children over a five-year period. For the research, children were tested at six, 12, 24 and 60 months, but a diagnosis of asthma at the age of five is more reliable as more accurate measurements of lung function can be carried out.

The research found that a diet low in vitamin E during pregnancy is associated with increased asthma and reduced lung function in children at the age of five. It also highlighted that two-year-olds whose mothers' vitamin E intake during pregnancy had been relatively low were more likely to wheeze even when they did not have a cold.

Dr Devereux said: ‘Children born to mothers who had a low intake of vitamin E during pregnancy were five times more likely to have asthma than children whose mothers had eaten a diet high in vitamin E. It is possible that declining intake of vitamin E in the last 50 years may have contributed to the increase in asthma in children. The potential importance of this study is that in the future it may be possible to reduce the risk of asthma in children by changing the diet of women during pregnancy. However, further work needs to be carried out before specific advice can be given to pregnant women.’

Dr Lyn Smurthwaite, Asthma UK’s Research Development Manager, said that the charity was pleased to have funded research that has the potential to provide a natural way of reducing childhood asthma. 'Eating a healthy, balanced diet at any time, but especially during pregnancy, makes sense and this study suggests simple modifications in a pregnant mother’s diet may help protect her child from developing asthma by the age of five,’ she added.