The July 5, 2004 Reuters reported on a recent study, conducted by researchers at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington and published in the July issue of Pediatrics, which detected a possible link between the use of multivitamin supplements and the risk of asthma and food allergies among children. According to the article, the research was based on data from a government study that began tracking mothers and infants in 1991. The study, which involved over 8000 infants, established a link between early infant multivitamin intake and asthma among black infants, and an association between early infant multivitamin intake and food allergies in formula-fed infants. In addition, it found an increased risk of food allergies among all children given multivitamins at age three. According to the article, more than half of all toddlers in the U.S. take multivitamins, which are often added to their formula. It also says, “if the research bears out, recommendations for vitamin supplementation and the actual multivitamin formulation may need to be changed to reduce the risks of allergy and asthma”
For the entire article: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5591959.
|
Printer Friendly 
