Fish consumption during the first year of life and development of allergic diseases during childhood.

Plain Language Summary

This study aimed to investigate the association of eating fish in the first year of human life, and the development of allergic diseases by the age of four. A group of 4089 new born babies was followed for a period of four years, and information about fish consumption and time of introduction was collected via a simple parental questionnaire when the infants were 2 months, 1, 2 and 4 years old. Five predefined categories – never, once a month, 2-3 times a month, once a week and more than once a week – were used to identify how much fish was eaten. There was a 90% response rate at 4 years. Clinical investigations of 2614 children aged four were undertaken, including blood sampling to analyse IgE responses to common foods and allergens, such as cat, dog, horse, birch, milk, egg, fish, soy, peanut and wheat. It was found that those children who ate fish in the first year of their life had a reduced risk of developing an allergic disease at age 4 (asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis or sensitisation) when compared with those children who began to eat fish at 9 months or older. In addition, a reduced risk was seen when children ate fish more than twice a month compared with those who ate fish less than once a month, and this was more noticeable when measured as persistent allergic disease (those children who had allergic responses at 2 years and 4 years). In this study, there was no clear difference in risk between children with or without parental allergic diseases. However, reduced risk of sensitisation, alongside regular fish in the diet, was only seen in children without parental allergic disease. Risk reduction was most noticeable for allergic rhinitis. The authors conclude that eating fish early and regularly in life was associated with a reduced risk of developing allergic disease, in particular eczema and allergic rhinitis.