Food preservatives can trigger asthma

Chennai

Delhi Fares Worst In Study Of 4 Big Cities

More than a third of schoolchildren in four big cities of India suffer from reduced lung capacity , with Delhi showing the worst results, claims a new study whose results could be pointing to how air pollution is impacting the health of kids in urban India.

In the survey , 2,373 kids in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata underwent a lung health screening test. Of the 735 students who took the test in Delhi, 21% were found to have `poor' lung capacity while another 19% had `bad' capacity .

This means four out of every 10 children screened in the capital failed the test. Delhi has the worst air quality among 1,600 cities around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

The students were asked to inhale and then exhale forcefully into a testing device to check their lung capacity . Dr Preetaish Kaul, representative of Heal Foundation which conducted the survey , said they were shocked to find so many children not being able to ex hale properly .

Children in the three other cities surveyed were only marginally better off. “The survey was observational and we did not look into the cause of poor lung health. However, given that most children were otherwise healthy , it will not be wrong to infer that poor air quality has a role to play in causing the reduced lung capacity ,“ said Dr Preetaish Kaul of Heal Foundation.

Chennai didn't make it to the list of top four polluted cities, but an increasing vehicle density remains a matter of concern. Despite high levels of pollutants detected in the air, the frequent interplay of land breeze and sea breeze has kept the coastal city in the green.

Though food is not a common trigger for asthma, there is a strong link between asthma and allergies, and many people, especially children with asthma, also have allergies, warn paediatricians.

“Children who have food allergies as young as six months old often go on to develop asthma. The main culprits behind this are food preservatives and colouring agents used in food,“ paediatrician Dr A Somasundaram said at an awareness programme on Monday , on the eve of World Asthma Day .

While colouring agents enhance flavour or colour, add texture and make foods less acidic, they often trigger asthma in 5% of children. “ Allergic reactions to food can cause asthma symptoms, such as tightness in the chest, wheezing and shortness of breath,“ he said. Parents should keep a watch on the kind of food their children are allergic to and make sure that they avoid such food. “To make sure the child does not unknowingly consume the product, parents should carefully read ingredient lists on food labels before they give it to the kid,“ said Dr Somasundaram.

Paediatrician T Muthusamy pointed out that often asthma had an intrinsic and extrinsic factor. “Most children tend to have asthma if their family members suffer from it.However, in many cases, an external agent like a chemical in some foods can set it off,“ he said. While the allergen may differ from one child to another, a simple blood test can reveal what the child is allergic to and treatment can be given accordingly , he said.

Dr S Balamurugan said that in most cases parents relied on syrups to control wheezing in children but said the best way to prevent it was through inhalation therapy or by using nebulisers. “Doctors stay divided on the usage of inhalers. We also intend to sensitise physicians about it as part of our awareness camps for asthma day ,“ he said.