The Frequency of Fast Food Consumption in Relation to Wheeze and Asthma Among Adolescents in Gauteng and North West Provinces, South Africa

Vusumuzi Nkosi, Funzani Rathogwa-Takalani and Kuku Voyi
Additional contact information
Vusumuzi Nkosi: Environment and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Johannesburg 2094, South Africa
Funzani Rathogwa-Takalani: Department of Advanced Nursing Science, School of Health Science, University of Venda, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa
Kuku Voyi: School of Health Systems and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0001, South Africa

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: The prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases have been on the rise, especially in developing countries due to life-style changes. The study aimed to investigate the association between the frequency of fast food consumption with wheeze and asthma among adolescents. A previously validated self-completed questionnaire from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood was used to collect information on demographics, socioeconomic status, house characteristics, adolescent respiratory health and diet. The prevalence of wheeze was 38.2% and of asthma was 16.37% among the adolescents. The results from the adjusted regression analyses indicated that eating fast foods three or more times per week was a statistically significant risk factor for wheeze (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.26–2.03) and asthma (OR = 1.37; 95% CI: 1.04–1.91). The study found an association between eating fast foods three or more times per week and wheeze and asthma among adolescents in South Africa. Unhealthy diet plays a crucial role in respiratory health among adolescents; healthy eating habits are encouraged to reduce the burden of respiratory symptoms and diseases.

Keywords: asthma; wheeze; fast foods; adolescents; South Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/1994/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/6/1994/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:6:p:1994-:d:333773

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().