Background: Diet has been of interest for asthma; however, it remains unknown whether the consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) increases the risk of the disease. Our objective was to investigate whether UPF consumption during childhood was associated with wheeze, asthma, and severe asthma in adolescence.
Methods: We included 2190 11-year-old children from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study, without asthma at the age of 6 years. Consumption of UPF was assessed by Food Frequency Questionnaires at 6- and 11-year follow-ups. Wheeze, asthma, and severe asthma data were assessed at 11-year follow-up. We classified foods according to the processing degree in ultra-processed food. We used logistic regression to estimate the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), for the association between UPF consumption and the asthma outcomes.
Results: Cumulative incidence of wheeze and asthma between 6 and 11 years was 12.7% and 23.2%, respectively. In prospective analyses, comparing children in the highest and the lowest quintile of UPF consumption at age 6, we found no association with wheeze (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.54-1.34), asthma (OR = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.58-1.21), or severe asthma (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.62-2.03) in early adolescence. In cross-sectional analyses, comparing adolescents in the highest and lowest quintile of UPF consumption at 11 years, we found no association with wheeze (OR = 1.12; 95% CI = 0.72-1.75), asthma (OR = 1.00; 95% CI = 0.7-1.44), or severe asthma (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.59-1.86).
Conclusion: Our study provided evidence that UPF consumption during childhood or adolescence is not associated with asthma or wheeze among adolescents.
Keywords: adolescents; asthma; cohort study; food consumption; ultra-processed food.
© 2019 EAACI and John Wiley and Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley and Sons Ltd.