BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1549750
Association between asthma and polyunsaturated fatty acids intake in Brazilian adolescents: Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents-ERICA
Provisionally accepted
Érica Azevedo de Oliveira Costa Jordão*
Mara Morelo Rocha Felix
Marcia TakeyDenise Tavares GianniniMaria Cristina Caetano Kuschnir
Fábio Chigres Kuschnir- Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Introduction: Previous studies have shown that asthma is associated with a less traditional diet pattern with an unbalanced polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) distribution. This study aimed to investigate the association between asthma and PUFA intake in Brazilian adolescents.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, using data from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents-ERICA, a national, school-based multicenter survey with a sample representative of Brazilian adolescents (12-17years old). The presence of at least one wheezing attack in the last 12 months defined asthma. The intake of the following PUFAs was evaluated: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), linoleic acid (LA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) as well as N6N3 ratio (the sum of LA and ARA over ALA, DHA and EPA). The odds ratio (OR) and the respective 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) between asthma and PUFAs intake, as well as other study variables was calculated using Logistic Regression.Results: A total of 64,904 participants were included for the analysis. After adjustment, asthma remained significantly associated with ALA (OR:1.05; CI95%:1.02-1.09) and EPA (OR:0.61; 95%CI:0.39-0.95), being the first a positive association and the latter a negative one. There were no significant association between asthma and N6N3 ratio, as well as the other PUFAs evaluated.Our findings reveal a higher chance of asthma among Brazilian adolescents with increased ALA consumption and, elevated intake of EPA was associated with decreased odds
Keywords: "Adolescent", "Asthma", "Cross-sectional studies", "Fatty Acids, Omega-6", "Fatty Acids, omega-3", "Fatty Acids, Unsaturated", "Eicosapentaenoic acids", "Docosahexaenoic Acids"
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Jordão, Felix, Takey, Giannini, Kuschnir and Kuschnir. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Érica Azevedo de Oliveira Costa Jordão, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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