According to an American study from the Icahn School of Medicine in New York, published in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society, consuming a high-quality diet rich in fruits, vegetables, fibre and omega-3 fatty acids, such as the Mediterranean diet, could help mitigate against the onset of respiratory problems when young people are exposed to secondhand smoke.

Researchers followed 7026 non-smoking adolescents for their study. They evaluated the quality of their diet using the Healthy Eating Index-2010 score.

They also looked at self-reported respiratory symptoms, such as wheezing or coughing in the past year. Levels of exposure to secondhand smoke was measured through serum cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine breakdown in the liver.

As for the results?

“Consuming a higher quality diet was associated with lower wheezing odds in adolescents with substantial exposure to environmental tobacco smoke,” the authors of the study concluded.

The researchers emphasise the importance of protecting the lungs of adolescents, “a stage in life that may be particularly susceptible to environmental exposures, which may impact development and contribute to chronic respiratory disease in adulthood.”

In the US more than four million adolescents have asthma.