When Mom Eats Apples or Fish, Offspring Benefit
Pregnancy diet affects kids' risks for asthma and eczema

(HealthDay News) -- Eat apples and fish while pregnant, and your offspring might be the better for it.

Researchers have found that expectant mothers could reduce the chances that their children would ever develop asthma symptoms by nearly 50 percent if they ate an average of four apples a week throughout their pregnancy. The study also found that just one serving of fish a week dropped the risk for the children developing eczema by 43 percent.

"There are influences that occur in utero that can have lasting impact," Dr. Jennifer Appleyard, chief of allergy and immunology at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, told HealthDay. "More and more, we're finding influences for later health developments earlier than we anticipated."

You might not want to stock up on apples and fish just yet, though. "This was a good study, but we need a lot more evidence still," Dr. Devang Doshi, director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., told HealthDay.

For the study, published in Thorax, Dutch researchers gathered data on 1,253 pregnant women and then their children until age 5. The women had completed food diaries while pregnant, and their children's health and diets were assessed periodically.

Among the offspring of women who ate four or more apples a week, the risk for ever wheezing was 37 percent less than among children born to women who didn't eat apples. The chances of developing asthma symptoms were down by 46 percent, and doctor-confirmed asthma was reduced by 53 percent, in children whose mothers regularly ate four or more apples a week.

Children whose mothers ate one serving of fish each week during pregnancy were 43 percent less likely to develop eczema than kids whose mothers never ate fish while pregnant.

There's a caveat to fish-eating, however. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that pregnant women should not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish because of potentially high mercury content. The group also suggests eating no more than 12 ounces of fish or shellfish each week while pregnant, the equivalent of about two meals.

Doshi pointed out that the children in the study generally had well-balanced, nutritious diets, which might have played a role in the asthma and eczema risk reductions. But, he said, the flavonoids and other antioxidants found in apples could have provided a benefit to these children.

"The general consensus is that women should consume a good, well-balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and not to overindulge in any one food," he said.

Appleyard said that prenatal nutrition is an area that needs more research but, in the meantime, pregnant women might want to "pick your foods wisely because what you're eating today may not only nourish your body but may have an impact on your baby's future health."

Besides eating well, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also recommends that women take prenatal vitamins to ensure that they're getting the additional iron and folic acid they need while pregnant.

On the Web

To learn more about nutrition recommendations for expectant mothers, visit the March of Dimes.

SOURCES: HealthDay News; Jennifer Appleyard, M.D., chief, allergy and immunology, St. John Hospital and Medical Center, Detroit; Devang Doshi, M.D., director, pediatric allergy and immunology, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich.; March 27, 2007, Thorax; American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (www.acog.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: Jan. 31, 2010
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