Fish Consumption Reduces Risk of Early Childhood Allergies

Allergies fish and other marine animals such as shrimp and crab is one of the most common food allergies. First the researchers suspected that introducing seafood at an early age may increase the risk of allergies later in life. But lately, opinion has been widely refuted it. The researchers suspect that it is now introducing the fish at an early age can actually help protect against allergies.

Results of research about it a lot, which is a study in the journal Pediatrics dipublikasikandi last year, which found the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms was lower among children who were introduced to eat fish between the ages of 6 and 12 months.

The study, "piggyback" population-based birth cohort study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands was found that the introduction of the fish at the age of children between 6 and 12 months later-but-not related to the prevalence of wheezing (wheezing) were low. Exposure of fish food in the window between the ages of 6 and 12 months may be associated with a reduced risk of asthma.

Another study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that monitor the progress of 3,285 children aged 1 to 12 showed that those who ate at least two servings of fish per month reduces the overall risk of the prevalence and incidence of allergic diseases by 74% to 78% for rhinitis and eczema.However, these studies are still observational and draw conclusions that are correlation, not causation. It is not certain why the correlation exists.Some tips

When you want to give your child a fish in the menu, the following tips may be useful:

• Avoid certain fish that could potentially be contaminated with mercury. Coast of Jakarta and its surroundings are known quite polluted by industrial waste. Avoid large fish / fish predators are at the top of the food chain such as shark, swordfish, and king mackerel. Their meat can contain mercury accumulation of smaller fish that they eat. Other fish species that should be avoided is the habitat close to the seabed such as grouper, lobster, and shellfish because of mercury content in seafloor sediments higher.
• Discard the skin and fat in fish, especially belly fat. Mercury accumulates in the fat of fish.
• Eat two servings of fish a week of a variety of small fish and inland water fish such as pomfret, snapper, catfish, carp, shrimp ponds and river mussels are low in mercury.