Low-fat Yoghurt in Pregnancy Could Trigger Asthma

September 19 - Researchers have found a possible link between eating low-fat yoghurt in pregnancy and asthma and hay fever in the child. The experts say that dairy products are important sources of nutrients which could reduce the risk of child asthma and allergy development. So the team, led by Dr Ekaterina Maslova of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA, looked at dairy intake in pregnancy in 61,912 women.

Children of mothers who drank several glasses of milk a day in pregnancy had a lower risk of asthma at seven years of age than those who drank no milk. But children of mothers who ate one or more low-fat yoghurts (with fruit) a day had significantly higher rates of asthma diagnosis, hay fever, and current asthma symptoms.

Dr Maslova and her team believe the risk may be caused by "non-fat related nutrient components" in the yoghurt. Or it could be that women who eat low-fat yoghurt have a different overall diet or lifestyle than women who do not. The study will be presented at the European Respiratory Society's meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on September 25.

Dr Maslova said: "This is the first study of its kind to link low-fat yoghurt intake during pregnancy with an increased risk of asthma and hay fever in children. "This could be due to a number of reasons and we will further investigate whether this is linked to certain nutrients or whether people who ate yoghurt regularly had similar lifestyle and dietary patterns which could explain the increased risk of asthma."

She added: "We cannot make any conclusions at this stage. We need to replicate these results in other studies first."

Maslova, E. et al. Low-fat yoghurt intake in pregnancy associated with increased child asthma and allergic rhinitis risk: A prospective cohort study. Abstract no. 315, presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, held from 24 to 28 September, 2011.