Best food to give asthmatic kids
The best diet for an asthmatic child is one which consists of fruits and vegetables, low fat dairies, seafood such as salmon and tuna, as well as lean meats.
Asthma is a chronic allergic disorder most often diagnosed in children. Signs and symptoms to look for in children with asthma include frequent coughing spells, which occur during play, at night or while laughing. By learning about asthma and how it can be controlled, you take an important step towards managing your child’s asthmatic condition.
Does the immune system of the child play a role in the management of asthma in childhood?
If your child has severe allergic asthma, he or she has a significantly depleted immune system. Usually, children who are very allergic have been fighting chronic inflammation in their nasal passageways and lungs for a while. This inflammation can be as a result of a build-up from air pollution.
The inflammation causes significant fatigue and a depleted immune system. Kids with asthma often get worse over time, seeming to continually fight off one infection after another. In severe cases, they seem to become allergic to just about everything. Doctors treat the inflammation and bronchospasm by giving kids inhaled steroids, but it does not address the real cause.
If you nourish and balance your child’s immune system and so decrease its allergic response, you will address the underlying build-up of inflammation that has resulted in their asthma. Over time, you could decrease your child’s response to that allergen enough that avoiding it is easier to do and later perhaps even unnecessary. That would surely be a better long-term solution much easier and more practical for daily living.
How does nutrition affect the development of asthma in children?
The foods that you eat will determine how healthy and how strong your immune system is. Different foods will give your child certain health benefits and if these foods are healthy, they will supply your child with vitamins, minerals and nutrients that will strengthen the immune system, so that the body functions effectively and optimally.
In the case where a child is suffering from a medical condition, a healthy diet will make an even bigger difference in how that child can manage the disease. In the case of asthmatics, nutrition plays a vital role. Foods that have little nutritional value will do nothing for the body other than making it less able to cope with the asthma. This will result in more frequent and severe asthma attacks.
Foods high in sodium and salt will even worsen the asthma. They promote the constriction of the passage ways to the lungs, which can trigger an attack or make an attack severe.
The best diet for asthmatic children is one which consists of fruits and vegetables, low fat dairies, seafood such as salmon and tuna, as well as lean meats. This is to ensure that they only consume foods that have good fats, thereby eliminating trans-fats.
Is there a link between vitamin D levels and the development of childhood asthma?
It makes sense that vitamin D would play some role in the development of asthma since Vitamin D levels in both the expectant mother and child is important for the growth and normal maturation of lung tissue.
Most readers will be aware that exposure to bright sunlight is how we naturally get vitamin D, but modern lifestyles make that impossible for the vast majority of children and adults, except on an occasional basis.
How do inhaled steroids improve the quality of life of asthmatics?
Regular inhaled steroids reduce asthma symptoms and exacerbation of the disease. By this, hospitalisation cases due to this disease are significantly reduced. School absenteeism in children is also markedly reduced.
Lung function, in addition, is maintained at normal or ‘near-normal’ levels. All the above allow the asthmatic child to lead a normal life, just like any other person. It is in this respect that inhaled corticosteroids have contributed enormously to improving the quality of life of asthmatics.
Is exercise recommended for children with asthma?
A child with severe asthma may be limited in terms of physical activity. Typically, light exercise is not a problem, but heavy duty sports and running are usually not recommended. Children with asthma should still be able to get a good amount of exercise on a daily basis.
These children will have bad and good days, when they feel as though they can do more. Parents should never push a child with asthma too much. Allow the child to decide how much activity he or she feels comfortable with.
Will my child outgrow asthma?
Once a person’s airways become sensitive due to asthma, they remain that way for life. However, about 50 per cent of children experience a noticeable decrease in asthma symptoms by the time they become adolescents, therefore appearing to have “outgrown” their asthma. About half of these children will develop symptoms of asthma again in their 30s and or 40s.
Unfortunately, there is no way to predict whose symptoms will decrease during adolescence and whose will return later in life.
END: BL 38 / 16-17