Eating Oily Fish Associated with Reduced Risk of Asthma

Published Online: Saturday, March 1, 2003   [ Request Print ]

New findings show that eating oily fish?such as salmon, mackerel, and herring?may protect against the development of asthma. As reported at the recent British Thoracic Society winter meeting, researchers studied more than 750 volunteers who completed diet and lifestyle questionnaires. Of this group, 333 reported wheezing in the 12 months before completing the questionnaire and 437 did not. Those who did not report wheezing had higher rates of eating oily fish at least twice a week, compared with participants who reported wheezing (12% vs 7.5%). After adjusting for other potentially confounding factors, regular fish consumption was associated with an approximately 50% reduction in the risk of asthma attacks.