Associations between the prevalence of asthma and dietary exposure to food contaminants in children: CHASER study

Background: Asthma is a common, multifactorial chronic disease with a major impact on children and adolescents. Exposure to food contaminants is one of the contributing factors to asthma. This study aims to evaluate the intake and exposure of different contaminants and explore their association with childhood asthma. Methods: The Childhood Asthma and Environment Research study evaluated Italian children aged 5–14 years, divided into control and asthma case groups. Dietary habits were recorded, and exposure to 11 food contaminants was estimated with the CONT11 database. The study included 428 children, 264 with asthma and 164 without. Results: The findings of this study were consistent with those reported in other studies, indicating that exposure to nitrates and acrylamide was significantly higher in asthmatic children. The results suggest that exposure to certain contaminants could have a more pronounced effect on asthmatic children. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the importance of tools such as CONT11 in assessing food safety. Furthermore, it reinforces the need to prevent and reduce exposure to food contaminants to minimize health risks.