Children who start eating fish before their first birthday have a lower risk of developing allergies. Researchers from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health in Stockholm, Sweden conducted a study that involved 3,000 children from birth to age 4. They found that those who began eating fish before they were 12 months old had lower odds of developing asthma, nasal allergies or the allergic skin condition eczema. The association is between early fish consumption and lower allergy risk and not that fish directly protects against such conditions. The results are in line with evidence that the omega-3 fats in fish support healthy immune system development. A recent study, found that children born to women who took fish oil pills during pregnancy had a reduced allergy risk. Omega-3 fats have anti-inflammatory properties; they affect immune system development in a way that lowers the likelihood of allergies. But the introduction of fish into the baby's diet is an individual choice. In general, experts advise that babies receive only breast milk for the first 6 months and then have solid foods introduced gradually one at a time. Some guidelines advise that children with a family history of allergy should not eat fish until age 3. But in Sweden, the guidelines for such families were changed in 2003 due to a lack of evidence that delaying the introduction of fish cuts the risk of fish allergy. Indeed, the growing evidence suggests that introducing fish before age 1 reduces the risk of allergies in general. In the current study, children who regularly ate fish at some point in their first year were one-quarter less likely to develop allergies by the age of 4 than their peers. The protective effect remained when the researchers excluded children who had eczema or wheezing in infancy or a family history of allergy. This makes it less likely that the findings reflect the fact that parents may not give fish to their children if they have allergies or have a high risk for them. However, more studies are needed before promoting a special diet to prevent childhood allergies. It's possible, that the children's fish intake was simply a proxy for other lifestyle factors that protect against allergies. One possibility is that their mothers' fish consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding exposed them to beneficial fatty acids.
Allergy,
August 2006