Relation between asthma clinical presentation and diet patterns among adolescents living in Saudi Arabia: Evidence from national school-based study

Background: Dietary intervention based on evidence-based guidelines should be introduced into the clinical management of Asthmatic patients to promote overall health benefits and disease control. However, there is limited evidence in the Saudi medical literature.  Objective of the study: To assess the association between diet patterns and asthma symptoms in Saudi adolescents. Subjects and Methods:  In total, 4086 Saudi adolescents were recruited for the study. Data for this study were sourced from a national survey conducted by the Saudi Ministry of health.  Results: 13.3% (n=543) of adolescents reported current wheeze in the past 12 months. The results showed that almost half of all adolescents reported unhealthy diet consumption on most or all days and a healthy diet was consumed at least twice per week in a third of them. The most important clinically relevant finding was a positive association between high weekly consumption of an unhealthy diet with asthma symptoms. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the positive impact of diet on asthma control is encouraging. A healthy diet including fruits, vegetables, and fish, is implicated in the mitigation of asthma symptoms and severity