Parental Education and the Association between Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Asthma in Adolescents: The Greek Global Asthma Network (GAN) Study

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that nutritional factors, such as consumption of fruits and vegetables, along with socioeconomic factors such as parental education level, are associated with asthma prevalence. Our study examined the role of parental education in the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and adolescent asthma. Methods: 1934 adolescents (mean age: 12.7 years, standard deviation: 0.6 years, boys: 47.5%) and their parents were voluntarily enrolled and completed a validated questionnaire assessing current asthma status, fruit and vegetable consumption and parental educational level. Participants were categorized as high or low intake for five food groups: fruits, cooked vegetables, raw vegetables, all vegetables (cooked and raw), and all three food groups together (fruits and all vegetables). Results: Adolescents who were high consumers of all three food groups (fruits, cooked and raw vegetables) were less likely to have asthma, adjusted for several confounders (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.25–0.97). Moreover, in adolescents who had parents with tertiary education and were in the high consumption of all three food groups, the inverse association was almost twofold higher than the one for adolescents with parents of primary/secondary education (aOR: 0.35, 95% CI: (0.21–0.89) and aOR: 0.61, 95% CI: (0.47–0.93) respectively). Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of the adoption of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables for all asthmatic adolescents and emphasize the important role of parental influences in this association.

Food Protein-Induced Allergic Proctocolitis: The Effect of Maternal Diet During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding in a Mediterranean Population

“…A striking finding in our study was that approximately 25% of our FPIAP infants had parents with higher education compared with 60% of HC infants. In the Mediterranean area, parental tertiary education has been found associated with high consumption of fruits and vegetables, and low childhood asthma prevalence ( 62 ).…”

The Effects of a Healthy Diet on Asthma and Wheezing in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Table S3 shows the baseline characteristics of the cohort and cross-sectional studies recorded separately in this meta-analysis, while Table S4 presents the specific statistical values in each article. In total, 63 articles were included for data analysis, due to the inclusion of the same population in the four articles by Arvaniti et al 57 , 58 and Antonogeorgos et al 86 , 87 …”

Dietary Factors May Delay Tolerance Acquisition in Food Protein-Induced Allergic Proctocolitis

“…Karatas and colleagues reported that a higher maternal educational level was associated with an increased risk of FPIAP [ 53 ]. There is documentation of an association between lower parenteral education and socioeconomic status, with a poorer quality of diet and an increased risk of asthma, along with low adherence to asthma medication use being observed [ 54 ]. In our, study, once FPIAP was diagnosed, a higher maternal educational level was associated with earlier resolution of symptoms, as group A mothers more often had a higher level of education.…”