Influence of Dietary Advice Including Green Vegetables, Beef, and Whole Dairy Products on Recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Open Access
- 20 January 2020
- Vol. 12 (1), 272
- https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12010272
Abstract
Background: Since no treatment exists for children suffering from upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) without immunological disorders, we searched for a possible tool to improve the health of these children. Aim: We evaluated whether dietary advice (based on food matrix and food synergy), including standard supportive care, can decrease the number and duration of URTIs in children with recurrent URTIs. Design and Setting: This study was a multicenter randomized controlled trial in two pediatric outpatient clinics in the Netherlands, with 118 children aged one to four years with recurrent URTIs. The dietary advice group received dietary advice plus standard supportive care, while the control group received standard supportive care alone for six months. The dietary advice consisted of green vegetables five times per week, beef three times per week, 300 mL whole milk per day, and whole dairy butter on bread every day. Portion sizes were age-appropriate. Results and Conclusion: Children in the dietary advice group had 4.8 (1.6–9.5) days per month with symptoms of an URTI in the last three months of the study, compared to 7.7 (4.0–12.3) in the control group (p = 0.028). The total number of URTIs during the six-month study period was 5.7 (±0.55) versus 6.8 (±0.49), respectively (p = 0.068). The use of antibiotics was significantly reduced in the dietary advice group, as well as visits to a general practitioner, thereby possibly reducing healthcare costs. The results show a reduced number of days with symptoms of a URTI following dietary advice. The number of infections was not significantly reduced.Keywords
This publication has 45 references indexed in Scilit:
- Galactooligosaccharide supplementation reduces stress-induced gastrointestinal dysfunction and days of cold or flu: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial in healthy university studentsThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2011
- Adherence to the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations as a measure of a healthy diet and upper respiratory tract infectionPublic Health Nutrition, 2010
- A single dose of vitamin A improves haemoglobin concentration, retinol status and phagocytic function of neutrophils in preschool childrenBritish Journal of Nutrition, 2009
- Food synergy: an operational concept for understanding nutritionThe American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2009
- Fish Oil N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Selectively Affect Plasma Cytokines and Decrease Illness in Thai Schoolchildren: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Intervention TrialThe Journal of Pediatrics, 2009
- History of respiratory infections in the first 12 yr among children from a birth cohortPediatric Allergy and Immunology, 2008
- The common coldThe Lancet, 2003
- Productivity Losses Related to the Common ColdJournal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2002
- The Cost of Antibiotics in Treating Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in a Medicaid PopulationArchives of Family Medicine, 1998
- Epidemiology, Pathogenesis, and Treatment of the Common ColdAnnals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 1997