Consumption of milk and dairy products and risk of asthma in children: a systematic review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Some reports demonstrate that asthma benefits from milk and dairy products, however, the findings are controversial. We used meta-analysis as a tool to summarize published data on the association between dairy products consumption and asthma. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies of dairy products and asthma in children in PubMed, ISI (Web of Science), and EMBASE until 21 July 2022. Random-effect meta-analyses with summarized data were performed for total (high/low) milk and dairy intake. Subgroup analysis was used to identify sources of variation in responses. Publication bias and sensitivity analysis were done to examine the stability of results. RESULTS: There was no correlation between consumption of dairy products and reduced risk of asthma (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.60–1.05). Our results revealed that elevated consumption of milk and dairy has significant correlation with reduced risk of asthma in Non-Asian population (OR = 0.74; 95% CI = 0.51–0.96) and high quality studies (OR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.50–0.95). No individual study influence and publication bias was seen in the sensitivity analysis and publication bias assessment. CONCLUSION: There was no correlation between consumption of dairy products and reduced risk of asthma. However, we observed that elevated consumption of milk and dairy has significant correlation with reduced risk of asthma in Non-Asian population and high quality studies. More high-quality and population-specific studies should be conducted to determine the risk link between milk consumption and asthma in children. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13690-023-01162-8.