Kids Eating Burgers May Get Asthma Easily

Children often eat hamburgers. are prone to asthma.

A new study shows that eating too many hamburgers laden with jams and condiments not only lead to arterial blockage, but also increase the risk of asthma and bronchial asthma, especially in children.

The study, published in the latest issue of The British Medical Journal, claims that a Mediterranean-style diet—eating more vegetables, fruits, and fish with less fat—helps prevent respiratory diseases related to asthma.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children. It usually triggers due to dust and allergies, causing inflammation in the airways of the lungs. Its symptoms include wheezing, chest pain, and breathing difficulties. According to the World Health Organization, more than 300 million people suffer from asthma worldwide, and about 250,000 die each year due to it. For unknown reasons, there has been a rise in asthma cases over the past 25 years, particularly in wealthy countries.

Researchers at Ulm University assessed how much the diet could contribute to causing asthma by surveying health records of 50,000 children aged 8-12, collected from 20 rich and poor countries between 1995 and 2005. They asked parents about their children's daily diets and whether they had been diagnosed with asthma. The study found that diet is not like other allergens such as grass, pollen, or flowering trees that increase sensitivity. However, diet does correlate with the onset of wheezing and asthma. Children who eat more than 3 hamburgers a week along with sugary sodas are much more likely to develop asthma.

However, researchers point out that eating too many hamburgers may not be directly responsible for causing asthma but could be an indicator of a lifestyle with many factors contributing to this condition. This can partly explain why people in poorer countries who also eat many hamburgers have lower rates of asthma compared to those in wealthier countries.