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Recent research has indicated that consumption of fructose increases the risk of asthma through mechanisms distinct from obesity.
In a study in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society (online, 8 December 2017), researchers used data on 1,068 mother-child pairs, followed-up since pregnancy, to assess the impact of fructose consumption on the risk of asthma in mid-childhood (median 7.7 years)[1]
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They found that, after adjustment for maternal body mass index (BMI), children born to mothers in the highest quartile for sugar-sweetened beverage and total fructose consumption were more likely to have asthma than those born to mothers in the lowest quartile. Higher consumption of fructose in early childhood was also associated with mid-childhood asthma, after adjustment for mid-childhood BMI.
The researchers said the findings lent support to the theory that intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and fructose is linked to childhood asthma, independent of obesity.
References
[1] Wright L, Rifas-Shiman S, Oken E et al. Prenatal and early-life fructose, fructose-containing beverages, and mid-childhood asthma. Ann Am Thor Soc 2017. doi:10.1513/AnnalsATS.201707-530OC
