Respiratory health symptoms among schoolchildren in relation to possible food-related risk and protective factors

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Authors

Wright, Caradee Yael
Nkosi, Vusumuzi
Wichmann, Janine

Journal Title

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Publisher

MDPI Publishing

Abstract

Respiratory health outcomes are among the top five causes of child morbidity and mortality around the world. We aimed to investigate possible food-related risk and protective factors for respiratory health outcomes in children. Structured questionnaires completed by primary caregivers of 10-year old children were used to collect information on demographics, socio-economic status, house characteristics and child respiratory health status. Upper (URIs) and Lower (LRIs) respiratory illnesses comprised hay fever, and wheezing, asthma and bronchitis, respectively. Eight hundred questionnaires were distributed, 648 retrieved and 420 completed in full (52.5% response rate). The hay fever 6-month prevalence was 22.4% and wheezing had the highest 6-month prevalence among the LRIs (13.8%). The majority of children ate vegetables (75.5%), fruit (69.3%) and chicken or fish (81.7%) regularly. Nearly half of the children (45.5%) regularly ate processed food. Eating processed food regularly was statistical significantly associated with wheeze (Adjusted Odds Ratio (OR) = 2.65; 95% CI: 1.38–5.08), hay fever (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.09–2.64) and bronchitis (OR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.06–2.56). The study found an association between regular consumption of processed foods and wheeze, hay fever and bronchitis among 10 year old children. The regular consumption of processed food plays a role in adverse respiratory health effects among children and healthy eating is emphasized.

Description

Antony J. Mundackal collected the data as part of his MSc research project under the supervision of JanineWichmann and Caradee Y.Wright at the School of Health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria.

Keywords

Respiratory health symptoms, Children, Risk factors, Air pollution, South Africa (SA)

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Citation

Wright, C.Y., Nkosi, V. & Wichmann, J. 2018, 'Respiratory health symptoms among schoolchildren in relation to possible food-related risk and protective factors', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 15, no. 3, art. no. 502. pp. 1-10.