fatty acids playing a role in childrens allergies

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Fatty acids may play role in children's allergies

June 12, 2001

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A perceived increase

in allergies among

children in the industrialized world has been

blamed on everything from

environmental pollutants to sanitizing products.

Now, a team of

researches from Finland suggests that diet may

play a role.

Their study, published in a recent issue of the

journal Allergy, found

that children who eventually developed allergies

ate less butter and

more margarine compared with children who did not

develop allergies.

The allergic children also tended to eat less

fish, although this dietary

difference was less significant.

While it is too soon to make dietary

recommendations aimed at

lowering the risk of allergies, the findings

provide evidence of a link

between certain dietary fats and allergic diseases

such as asthma,

according to Dr. Teija Dunder and colleagues at

the University of Oulu.

The study is not the first to suggest that certain

types of fatty acids

may play a role in the onset of allergic diseases.

Polyunsaturated fats

like those in margarine are thought to promote the

formation of

prostaglandin E2, a substance that promotes

inflammation and causes

the immune system to release a protein that

triggers allergic reactions.

A diet higher in unsaturated fats and low in

saturated fats such as

those in butter is more healthful in general. But

the growing emphasis

on achieving this fat balance has been blamed in

some research for

the increasing rates of childhood allergies, the

report indicates. At the

same time, however, studies have suggested the

unsaturated fats

found in certain types of fish may protect against

allergic disease.

This study, according to Dunder's team, supports

the overall idea that

dietary fat somehow affects allergy risk.

" Our results support the hypothesis that the

quality of the fat

consumed in the diet is important for the

development of [allergic]

diseases in children, " the study authors write.

" The possibility of

preventing [allergic] diseases by supplementation

or by changing the

fatty acid composition of the diet of young

children remains to be

tested by clinical trials. "

The investigators reviewed data from 462 children

aged 3 to 18 in 1980

and from 308 children in 1986, and followed the

children for 9 years. In

1980, children with atopic dermatitis--a common

allergic reaction that

causes itchy skin--consumed about 8 grams of

margarine for every

1,000 calories, compared with roughly 6 grams

among children without

the condition.

Children with atopic dermatitis also consumed

about 9 grams of butter

per 1,000 calories, while those without the

allergy downed more than

11 grams of butter, on average.

In other findings, the ratio of polyunsaturated to

saturated fat was

higher and the percentage of myristic acid, an

indicator of saturated fat

intake, was significantly lower in children with

atopic dermatitis in 1980.

On the other hand, children with the allergy also

had lower levels of

polyunsaturated fats found in fish--although their

fish intake was

similar to that of the other children. High fish

intake, the researchers

note, has been linked to lower rates of asthma.

The current study supports the idea that the fat

composition of

children's diets may influence their allergy risk,

Dunder and colleagues

conclude.

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