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Consuming oily fish, PUFA may reduce rhinitis risk in children

Consuming oily fish during childhood may reduce the risk for allergic and nonallergic rhinitis in children aged 8 to 16 years, according to study results.

The researchers indicated, however, that the reduced risk for allergic rhinitis (AR) did not reach statistical significance.

“Regular intake of oily fish and dietary long-chain n-3 [polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)] measured at age 8 years was associated with a reduced risk of cumulative incidence of [nonallergic rhinitis (NAR)] between ages 8 and 16 years,” Jessica Magnusson, MSc, a PhD student at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and colleagues wrote.

Magnusson and colleagues assessed the data of 1,970 children from a population-based birth cohort to determine if consuming oily fish and PUFA at age 8 increased the risk for NAR and AR in children aged 8 to 16 years. Children and their parents answered food frequency questionnaires when the child turned 8 and 16 and submitted blood samples for immunoglobulin-E antibody analysis.

Nineteen percent of the children had rhinitis symptoms at age 8 years. Among asymptomatic children, 21% had AR when they were aged 8 to 16 years; 15% were diagnosed with NAR.

Regular intake of fish in children aged 8 years was not significantly associated with a risk for AR (adjusted OR = 1.04; 95% CI, 0.71-1.54) or NAR (aOR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.43-1.48).

The researchers said regular intake specifically of oily fish correlated with a reduced risk for cumulative incidence of NAR in children aged 8 to 16 years (aOR = 0.52; 95% CI, 0.32-0.87). A similar risk reduction for AR, however, was not statistically significant (aOR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.53-1.15).

Consuming long-chain n-3 PUFA also showed an association with reduced risk for incidence of NAR in children aged 8 to 16 years (aOR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.3-0.67).

“Although the support from other epidemiologic studies for this association is limited, the association is biologically plausible,” the researchers wrote. “However, further studies are needed to disentangle the possible mechanisms behind these observations.” – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: Magnusson reports receiving research support from the Swedish Research Council Formas and the Swedish Research Council. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.