Rathogwa-Takalani, FunzaniMudau, Thabelo RodneyPatrick, Sean MarkShirinde, JoyceVoyi, Kuku2025-07-312025-07-312025-03Rathogwa-Takalani, F.; Mudau, T.R.; Patrick, S.M.; Shirinde, J.; Voyi, K. Dietary Patterns in Relation to Asthma and Wheeze Among Adolescents in a South African Rural Community. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2025, 22, 502. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22040502.1661-7827 (print)1660-4601 (online)10.3390/ijerph22040502http://hdl.handle.net/2263/103713DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The ethical approval we received limits us from sharing the data publicly. The raw data analyzed are available upon reasonable request to the authors.BACKGROUND : The rise of asthma prevalence in recent decades has been attributed to changes in dietary patterns, especially in developing countries. Studies have also suggested that dietary patterns play an important role in both asthma development and management. This study aimed to investigate the association between consumption of various foods and environmental factors with asthma and wheeze among adolescents. METHODS : A self-administered standardized International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics, respiratory health, exposure to air pollution, and diet on n = 2855 adolescents residing in Vhembe District, South Africa. RESULTS: The prevalence of asthma and wheeze were 18.91% and 37.69%, respectively. Consuming various foods such as fast foods (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.06-1.88), bread (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.45-1.81), pasta (OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.06-1.84), seafood (OR = 1.79; 95% CI: 0.65-1.24), and nuts (OR = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.65-1.12) were significantly associated with asthma in the crude logistic regression analysis. Further analysis in the multiple regression model indicated a strong association of asthma with consumption of nuts (OR = 1.55; 95% CI: 1.11-2.17), seafood (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.03-2.49), and cereal (OR = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.45-0.99). In relation to wheeze, consumption of meat (red) (OR = 0.77; 95% CI: 0.60-0.99) was a protective factor in the crude analysis. The multiple logistic regression model showed that, seafood (OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.59-0.96), fruit (OR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.32-0.94), nuts (OR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.50-2.66), and olive oil (OR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.09-2.00) were significantly associated with wheeze. CONCLUSION : Diet plays a major role in respiratory health, especially in asthma and wheeze. Dietary changes may play a role in reducing the burden of asthma and other respiratory symptoms in adolescents.en© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).South Africa (SA)AdolescentsAsthmaDietary patternsWheezeArticle