Nuts 'can raise risk of child asthma'

Published on Tuesday 15 July 2008 22:06

EXPECTANT mothers who eat nuts daily during pregnancy increase the risk of their children suffering asthma by more than 50 per cent compared to those who consume fewer nuts, researchers said yesterday.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory Medicine, involved almost 4,000 pregnant women from the Netherlands who outlined their dietary habits.

The researchers discovered the only food link to asthma they could find was the consumption of nuts in pregnancy.

It is believed that eating foods commonly associated with allergy during pregnancy may raise the risk of the foetus becoming sensitised to certain allergens, increasing the risk of asthma.

The lead researcher, Saskia Willers, from Utrecht University, said: "We were surprised to see the adverse associations between nut product consumption during pregnancy and symptoms of asthma in children because we haven't seen this in similar previous studies."

Ms Willers said it was still too early to recommend that women avoid nuts in pregnancy.

But she added: "It's important for pregnant women to eat healthily, and what is true for many foods is that too much is never good."