Premature Birth Ups Risk of Long-Term Breathing Problems

Premature Birth Ups Risk of Long-Term Breathing Problems
FRIDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) — More than half of babies born very prematurely — at 25 weeks of pregnancy or earlier — may experience lung problems, and they are twice as likely as children born at full-term to be diagnosed with asthma by the time they turn 11, a new study has found.

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Pregnant Women Who Follow Mediterranean Diet Protect Their Offspring From Asthma.

Researchers have shown that pregnant women can dramatically impact upon the health of their unborn children by determining what sorts of foods they eat while expecting. Expectant mothers who eat a diet rich in high quality and traditional Mediterranean diet were shown to provide their unborn children with a natural remedy for asthma and allergies.

The Mediterranean Diet study was conducted on pregnant women who lived in Menorca, a Spanish island. Researchers from the University of Crete monitored what sort of Mediterranean foods the women ate, and scored them correspondingly.

The mothers who fell into to the high quality Mediterranean diet group were eating at least 3 serves of fish per week, 8 serves of vegetables weekly, 1 serve of legumes, as well as olive oil, whole grains, nuts and seeds. These were the women who demonstrated in the Mediterranean Diet research to have provided their children with significant protection against childhood asthma and allergies. On the flip side, the women who ate more than 3-4 serves of red meat each week actually increased the risks of their children having asthma and allergies.

The children were monitored annually until they reached the age of 6.5 years. These children were also skin tested at the end of the study, which began in 1997, for 6 common respiratory allergens. Researchers also concluded that the diets of the children once born had much less of a protective benefit than the insurance provided by their pregnant mothers’ diets.

What is the Mediterranean Diet? This diet is so called as it is based on a pattern of eating followed by various regional folk who live around the Mediterranean. Typically, Mediterranean cuisine comprises of plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, red wine, and olive oil. Fish is eaten moderately, and red meat is rarely eaten. Dairy products such as eggs, milk, cheeses, yogurts, and poultry are eaten in lesser amounts.

Researchers surmised that the protective health benefits of Mediterranean Diet for the unborn children came from 2 sources, antioxidants and omegas. Both these 2 ingredients are found in high amounts in Mediterranean cuisine. Antioxidants are beneficial in providing tissue health and omegas provide anti-inflammatory properties, especially in the airways (important in asthma).

Please note that drinking alcohol while pregnant is not recommended by medical authorities. No mention was made in the study of alcoholic intake for the pregnant women. A responsible conclusion would be that they were not consuming alcohol.

Conclusion – Following a quality Mediterranean Diet in pregnancy has been shown to significantly reduce the incidences of both allergies and asthma in the children of these mothers. Maximum protectives benefits were found in the expectant women who close followed a traditional Mediterranean diet and ate at least 3 serves of fish weekly, 8 serves of vegetables weekly, and at least 1 serve of legumes.