Infants who eat fish in the first nine months of life seem to be protected against developing the allergic skin disease, eczema, researchers have reported.
This finding comes from a study by Dr Bernt Alm and his team at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. They looked at figures from an ongoing study involving almost 17,000 babies.
Parents were asked about their child’s diet and any eczema symptoms they showed. At a year old, one in five of the children had developed eczema. But children who had eaten fish before nine months of age had a 24 per cent lower chance of eczema.
The researchers report their results in Archives of Disease in Childhood. They explain that eczema in infants is a common health problem throughout the world, and has recently increased in Western societies.
Diet may play a role – both the food consumed and the timing of food introduction may have an effect on eczema risk, they state.
“The introduction of fish before nine months of age reduces the risk of eczema,” they write.
In this study, breast-feeding did not seem to protect infants from developing eczema during the first year of life. Keeping a pet bird at home offered some protection, they found, but the timing of milk and egg introduction to the infant’s diet did not affect eczema risk.
Family history had a significant impact, the experts add. “Children with a sibling or mother who had the condition were almost twice as likely to be affected by the age of 12 months.”
Alm, B. et al. Early introduction of fish decreases the risk of eczema in infants. Archives of Disease in Childhood, published online September 25, 2008.
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