LOS ANGELES, Jan 6 (Bernama) -- A new study showed that pregnant women
who often eat apples during their pregnancy may protect their newborns from
asthma.
Quoting the study conducted by Dutch researchers, China's Xinhua news agency
reported that women who consumed more than four apples a week will give birth to
children who are 37 percent less likely to have asthma, compare to mothers who
had the lowest consumption of apples during pregnancy.
The study was based on the analysis of 1,253 children from before birth to age
5, where the mothers completed food questionnaires during their pregnancies.
The children's health and diets were assessed with a symptom questionnaire.
The study, which was published in the January issue of Thorax, said the
mechanism behind apples' apparent protective effect may have something to do
with the flavonoids and other antioxidants contained in apples, said Dr. Devang
Doshi, director of pediatric allergy and immunology at Beaumont Hospital in
Royal Oak, Michigan.
More than 20 million Americans have asthma and about 6.2 million of those are
children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Source : BERNAMA
