Abstract
Sickness rates of children living in regions with extreme environmental pollution resulted in our study evaluating effects of 30-day supplementation with two different food supplements containing nucleotides, amino acids and polypeptides or β-glucan. This study was based on published studies evaluating these effects on children with chronic respiratory problems transported to the region without environmental pollution and into the medical program complemented with climatotherapy, speleotherapy, higher motion activity, rehabilitation, and a special nutritional program. We found that neither salivary immunity nor frequency of diseases affected children living in polluted areas. On the other hand, children living in Sanatorium EDEL with optimal environmental conditions showed significant health improvement after 30-day supplementation. This was documented by improvements in immune status and physical conditions. We conclude that with populations living in a polluted environment, it is necessary to induce healthy activities and reduce pollution exposure. The optimal form to achieve these goals seems to be programs offering short-term departures of children into healthy, non-polluted areas.
Keywords
Pollution, Nutrition, Children, Immunity, Supplementation