Association between Diet Quality and Frequency based on Dietary Fats and Glycaemic Index Scores with the presentation of Asthma in Young Chinese Adults in Singapore and Malaysia.

Abstract

Developed countries such as Singapore and Malaysia are experiencing an increasing prevalence of asthma. Recent global findings suggest that diet quality and frequency may influence the pathogenesis of asthma. Here, we evaluated the association between food and dietary habits with asthma prevalence using our population established for the Singapore/Malaysia Cross-sectional Genetics Epidemiology Study (SMCGES). A total of 11494 participants (1301 atopic asthma cases/3341 controls/6635 atopic controls) completed an investigator-administered questionnaire as part of a cross-sectional study, which includes dietary habits and other variables such as socio-demographics and familial history for allergic diseases. Dietary habits were assessed by two novel food indexes - Diet Quality based on Dietary Fat Score (DQDFS) and Quality of Diet based on Glycaemic Index Score (QDGIS). Individuals with a low GI score are significantly associated with a lower risk of asthma (OR: 0.809; 95% CI: 0.727-0.900; p-value <0.01). Similarly, a low dietary fat score reduced the odds of asthma significantly (OR: 0.711; 95% CI: 0.642-0.788; p-value <0.01). More importantly, combined effects of QDGIS and DQDFS highlighted an improved diet quality (low GI and low fat score vs high GI and fat score; OR: 0.595; 95% CI: 0.500-0.708; p-value <0.001) decreased the risks of asthma most significantly. As such, we identified a lower overall intake frequency of dietary fats and carbohydrates as a protective factor for asthma manifestation.