(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Want to help your kids avoid asthma and allergies? Then feed them more fish and "fruity vegetables" like tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, and zucchini.

Spanish researchers who followed children from before birth up till age six and a half report those who ate the most fish and fruity veggies were the least likely to develop asthma and allergies. Having a mother who ate a lot of fish while she was pregnant also increased the odds the kids would avoid these conditions.

Other foods assessed in the study -- including other types of vegetables -- didn't appear to affect the development of asthma and allergies.

Researchers conducted the study among 232 boys and 228 girls. Parents filled out detailed questionnaires about the children's health, weight, diet and breathing problems, and about 90 percent of the group also underwent skin prick testing to identify allergies.
 

The authors write they aren't sure how fish and fruity vegetables might be protecting children against asthma and allergies, but speculate it has something to do with their effects on inflammation, which is known to play a role in asthma.

They write, "The current study showed a potential protective effect of fruity vegetables and fish intake on childhood wheeze and [allergies], respectively. The biological mechanisms underlying the observed associations need to be further investigated."

SOURCE: Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 2007;18:480-485