Med pregnancy diet ‘prevents asthma’

Noshing through fish, fruit, veg, cheese and olive oil while pregnant will help mums prevent asthma and allergies in their kids.

A new study followed nearly 500 mothers and their children, from pregnancy until six-and-a-half years-old.

The research, published online in Thorax, looked at the links between maternal and child eating habits and children’s asthma and allergy symptoms.

Just over a third of the mums ate a low-quality Mediterranean diet during pregnancy and 64% ate a high-quality Mediterranean diet (rich in fish, fresh fruit, vegetables and legumes, nuts, dairy and olive oil).

Just over 13% of all the kids suffered with wheezing, 17% showed signs of allergies and over 5% had asthma-like symptom and allergies.

Tellingly, the mums who had tucked into the higher-quality food while pregnant were more likely to have kids who didn’t suffer from asthma or allergies.

The healthiest kids were born to mums who had more than eight portions of vegetables a week, fish more than three times a week and legumes once a week or more.

Mums who ate more than three or four portions of red meat a week, seemed to increase their child’s risk.