TORONTO - A new Canadian study suggests that persistent maternal stress may increase a child's risk of developing asthma.
The study of health records for about 14,000 Manitoba youngsters found that children whose mothers were chronically depressed or anxious during their early years had a higher rate of the respiratory disease than their unaffected peers.
The finding was independent of other factors associated with childhood asthma, like household income, being male or female and living in urban or rural environments.
Lead investigator Dr. Anita Kozyrskyj of the University of Manitoba says there are many factors that may lead to the lung disease and the study in no way suggests a mother's mental state is directly to blame for a child's asthma.
Researchers aren't sure just how maternal distress contributes to child developing asthma.
But Kozyrskyj says depressed or anxious mothers are more likely to smoke, which is known to be linked to an increased risk of the condition in offspring.
?? The Canadian Press, 2008