The following is a summary of “Evaluation of Healthy Eating Index and Children’s Diet Inflammatory Index according to asthma severity group,” published in the February 2024 issue of Pediatrics by Koç et al.
Understanding the role of diet in childhood asthma management is crucial as it may impact immune and inflammatory processes. Thus, this study aimed to explore variations in nutrient intake, the Children’s Dietary Inflammatory Index (C-DII), and dietary quality across different asthma severity levels.
A sample of 202 children with asthma (55.6% males, aged 5–18 years) attending a pediatric allergy outpatient clinic was assessed for asthma severity, dietary inflammatory status, and diet quality. Asthma severity was categorized as mild, moderate, or severe based on the Global Initiative for Asthma criteria. The C-DII and Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010) were calculated using 24-hour dietary recall data. Dietary quality was classified as poor, moderate, or good based on HEI-2010 scores.
The average age of participants was 9.6 ± 3.2 years, with younger ages observed in children with severe asthma (p < 0.05). Mild asthma was associated with higher fiber and iron intake compared to moderate asthma (p < 0.05). However, C-DII values did not significantly differ across asthma severity levels (p > 0.05). Furthermore, dietary quality was moderate in most participants (89.1%) and did not vary by asthma severity.
This study suggests that inflammatory status and diet quality may not directly influence asthma severity in children, underscoring the multifactorial nature of the relationship between diet and asthma. Further comprehensive and longitudinal investigations are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms linking diet and asthma severity, considering various genetic and environmental factors.
Source: bmcpediatr.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12887-023-04507-y