Medical expert of the article
New publications
Fish can save you from asthma
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Children who eat fish are less likely to develop asthma in the future. However, this only applies if the child ate fish in the first year of life. Dutch scientists say that eating fish after the first 12 months of life does not produce the same result.
The scientists' findings are based on observations of more than 7,000 children in the Netherlands. Scientists suggest that this effect is achieved due to the influence of certain fatty acids contained in fish, which can protect against the development of bronchial asthma.
Lead author of the study, Jessica Kifte-de-Jong, from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, said introducing fish into a child's diet between six and 12 months could protect the baby from the potential risk of developing asthma.
Some parents, worried about the possibility of a child having an allergic reaction to seafood, do not give their children fish and postpone introducing their baby to seafood until a later date.
Children born between 2002 and 2006 in Rotterdam were observed by scientists. Of the 7,210 children, 1,281 tried fish in the first six months of life, 5,498 in the second six months of life, and 431 did not eat fish at all in the first year of life, but tried the seafood after the first year of life.
After four years, specialists examined all the children involved in the experiment and also listened to complaints from parents who were concerned about their children's wheezing and shortness of breath.
About 45% of parents whose children did not eat fish in the first year of life reported that their children suffered from frequent wheezing and breathing problems. Similar problems were observed in children of those parents who first tried fish between six months and a year, but there were significantly fewer of them – only 30%.
According to scientists, children who ate fish before the first six months were exposed to the same level of risk as those babies who first tried fish after one year. Therefore, experts came to the conclusion that a small amount of fish can be useful for babies, but the best period for this is from six to twelve months.
[ 1 ]