Objective  To explore the relationship between dietary patterns and childhood asthma in China and to provide evidences for reducing the incidence of childhood asthma.

  Methods  We conducted a survey among parents and guardians of 302 children at ages of 7 – 11 years selected with cluster random sampling at 5 primary schools in Changning district of Shanghai city during September 2019. The children′s information on asthma and related symptoms and socioeconomic status were collected using a self-designed questionnaire and the data on diet patterns of the children were collected with the Food Frequency Questionnaire. Chi-square test and logistic analysis were used to analyze influencing factors of asthma and related symptoms.

  Results  Factor analysis revealed five dietary patterns among the children, namely aquatic product diet, high-calorie diet, poultry meat diet, traditional diet, and milk/egg meal. Univariate analyses identified following significant risk factors for asthma or asthma-related symptoms: at higher age, overweight or obesity, less exercise time at weekends, and antibiotic use. Multivariate logistic analyses demonstrated that excessive intake of aquatic products was positively associated with wheezing symptoms when suffering from a cold; high-energy diet pattern was positively associated with wheezing with shortness of breath; and poultry meat pattern was positively associated with irritating dry cough symptoms.

  Conclusion  A variety of diets can affect the occurrence of asthma and related symptoms in Chinese school-age children.