The protective benefits of zinc for asthma prevention

This photo displays several foods rich in dietary zinc.

According to a new study published in the World Allergy Organization Journal, dietary zinc may provide protective benefits for obese and overweight children who are at higher risk for asthma. In the study, children who received at least 11.96 mg of zinc per day lowered their risk of asthma by 40%, compared to those who consumed less than 5.7 mg per day.

Researchers from Fujian Medical University in Fuzhou, Fujian, China, used nine years of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), representing overweight or obese individuals under the age of 20 who had asthma and consumed dietary zinc. The study out of China followed 4,597 children and adolescents, 20.9% of whom had asthma. Using a variety of statistical methods, such as multivariate logistic regression, restricted cubic spline analysis and subgroup analysis, researchers studied the link between dietary zinc and asthma.

Asthma affects more than five million children worldwide. According to the Global Asthma Report (GAN), asthma prevalence was 9.1% in children and 11% in adolescents. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), childhood obesity affects 41 million children under the age of five and more than 340 million children and adolescents between the ages of five and 19 worldwide. This is a tenfold increase from 1976. Being overweight increases the risk of developing asthma and exacerbating symptoms, impairs lung function and reduces the effectiveness of conventional asthma treatments.  

Researchers theorized that zinc may promote the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are higher in people diagnosed with asthma. Prior research also showed that zinc may protect the lung’s epithelium from damage.

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