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# Babies who consume fish early in life have a lower risk of wheezing
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/fish_wheezing_1204110908/
- Published: 2011-12-04T10:07:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:20:21.000Z
- Description: A Swedish cohort study found babies who ate fish before nine months had a 40 percent lower risk of recurrent wheezing. Broad-spectrum antibiotics in the first week of life doubled that risk and nearly tripled the risk of multiple-trigger wheezing up to age 4.5.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, Fish, Asthma, Antibiotics, Wheeze, #vivvo-import

By David Liu and editing by Stacey Sexton

A study in the Dec. 2011 issue of Acta Paediatrica suggests that eating fish before nine months of age cuts the risk of wheezing, particularly recurrent wheezing and multiple-trigger wheezing, while the wheezing risk was higher among babies who used antibiotics in the first week of life or whose mothers used pre-natal paracetamol.

The study, led by Emma Goksör of Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden and colleagues, shows that babies who ate fish before the age of 9 months had a 40 percent reduced risk for recurrent wheezing. Conversely, using broad-spectrum antibiotics in the first week of life doubled the risk for recurrent wheezing up to 4.5 years of age and almost tripled the risk for multiple-trigger wheezing.

The study was based on data from a cohort of children born in western Sweden. Parents answered questionnaires at 9 months, 12 months and 4.5 years of age.

The fish commonly consumed by babies, according to a press release by the journal, includes white fish (79%), followed by salmon/game fish (17%), flat fish (3%) and herring/mackerel.

The researchers previously reported that fish, which is thought to reduce allergy risks, also helps fight eczema in infancy and allergic rhinitis at pre-school age. Other research has suggested a protective effect against asthma.

A broad-spectrum antibiotic refers to an antibiotic that can kill a wide range of pathogenic bacteria. Commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotics include amoxicillin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin and moxifloxacin.