Relationship between Fast food and Prevalence of Bronchial Asthma

<bold>Background:</bold> Allergic diseases are on the rise, but in recent years bronchial asthma (BA) and atopic dermatitis (AD) have been on the decline, while hay fever and allergic rhinitis have been reported to be on the rise in Japan. It is still unclear what determines the prevalence of these allergic diseases. On the other hand, it is said that allergic diseases are more common in areas where there is a lot of taking of fast food (FF). We found a high correlation between eating out and asthma prevalence. Therefore, we investigated fast food, which is frequently eaten out by children, and the prevalence of asthma. <bold>Subjects and methods:</bold> We used the data on prevalence of bronchial asthma, which was surveyed using the revised Japanese version of the ATS-DLS questionnaire during health checkups for 3-year-old children at public health centers in 34 regions nationwide from 2003 to 2016. Data on dietary habits were taken from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries' Food Statistics Yearbook. We investigated the relationship between the data of FF and the yearly bronchial asthma prevalence rate. <bold>Resuls:</bold> ① FF was correlated with the Prevalence of BA (There is a correlation between the prevalence of BA and the number of FF users or the number of stores for FF. There is an inverse correlation between the consumer price index for cup noodles and hamburgers and asthma prevalence. ② Trends in the number of customers at family restaurants (FR) were correlated with BA. That of FF was correlated with the Prevalence of BA. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> Bronchial asthma tended to be associated with the eating of FF. It is not easy to conclude what these results mean, but we would like to use this as a clue for future consideration.