Women who eat a Mediterranean diet while pregnant could protect their children against asthma and allergies, according to new research.
Further evidence that eating a diet rich in olive oil, fruit, vegetables and fish helps keep people healthy has been revealed in a study published in the journal Thorax.
The study claims that children born to mothers who followed a Mediterranean diet most closely were 78 per cent less likely to have asthma by the time they reached six years old compared with women who did not eat healthily.
The study followed 468 mothers and their children, on the Spanish island of Menorca, throughout pregnancy until the youngsters were six and a half. The diet included eating vegetables more than eight times a week, fish more than three times a week and beans and seeds more than once a week.
The research suggested that a diet rich in Mediterranean foods during pregnancy could help children by exposing them to a high level of antioxidants. These could help prevent damage to the lung tissue of developing babies.
“Cereals are rich in antioxidant compounds and they have been shown to have a protective effect against asthma in children,” researchers said. “Similarly, fruits, vegetables and legumes are known to be high sources of antioxidants and may therefore help to protect the airways against oxidative damage.
“Our results support a protective effect of a high level of adherence to a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy against asthma-like symptoms and atopy in childhood.”
The study also found that eating red meat more than three or four times a week whilst pregnant increases the child’s risk asthma and allergies later in life.
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