Researchers
say that food allergies have increased by about 50% in the past decade.
What’s causing the surge and can you do anything to protect your
children?
Most people know the foods that often cause allergic
reactions—peanuts, milk, shellfish, and wheat are the most common
culprits. But the prevalence of these and other food allergies is
growing faster each year. Pediatricians and immunologists at Mount Sinai
School of Medicine in New York City are researching why. Although there
is no confirmed data showing that allergies are becoming more
prevalent, 6% to 8% of all children younger than 4 years old have some
type of food allergy. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases advises that toddlers and infants are the most vulnerable. Even
though only about 1% of children have a peanut allergy, there are more
than 100 deaths each year in the United States from reactions to food
allergies, and most of those are allergies to peanuts.
Although
any food can trigger an allergic reaction, the most common ones in the
United States are caused by wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts and other nuts,
soybeans, fish, and shellfish. Another food allergy that is on the rise
among children is allergy to sesame and other seeds and seed oils.
Although most children with these allergies are diagnosed because of a
sudden reaction to ingesting the oil, many have symptoms that aren’t
very dramatic, so their parents and physicians may not recognize them as
being a food allergy. The rise in sesame allergy cases is probably due
to the increasing popularity and production of foods containing sesame
seeds.
In addition to researchers not knowing why food allergies
on the rise, there is also confusion about what can be done to prevent
them. Doctors have told parents for years that if they have allergies
themselves, they should avoid feeding their children the foods known to
be related to allergies—eggs, peanuts, fish, and nuts—but the American
Academy of Pediatricians now believes that there may be no merit in this
advice. In the United States, foods made with peanuts are usually
produced using roasted peanuts, and this is probably why those foods are
more allergenic. In countries where peanuts are boiled before
processing, there is a much lower prevalence of peanut allergies.
Food
allergies aren’t the only allergies that are becoming more prevalent.
In the last two decades there has been a significant increase in asthma,
hayfever, and eczema. The percentage of Americans who test positive to
at least one allergen has doubled since 1980, and asthma rates in
infants and children have tripled. Many researchers and doctors believe
this is due to what they call "the Hygiene Hypothesis." Nowadays there
is so much emphasis on hygiene and anti-bacterial soaps, lotions,
detergents, cleaners, and dishwashing soap, that many children have
improperly developed immune system because they haven’t been exposed to
the dirt and bacteria that would help them build up antibodies and
resistance to diseases. Because the immune system doesn’t have as many
natural germs to fight, it overreacts to other foreign substances (such
as nuts, pollen, and dust) that aren’t dangerous to the human body.
If
a child has an allergy to a certain food, he most likely will not
exhibit symptoms the first time he is exposed to the food. But his
immune system will begin producing antibodies that will help fight what
the body perceives as a foreign invader. This can even happen during
breastfeeding, because part of everything eaten by the mother is passed
on to the baby through breast milk. Then when the child eats that food
later, those antibodies will release chemicals to cause an allergic
reaction.
Symptoms of a food allergy can include itching, flushed
skin, hives, diarrhea, vomiting, swelling, watery eyes, sneezing, a
runny nose, and a wheezing cough. In some rare cases, a food allergy
results in a life-threatening swelling of the airways, where the blood
pressure drops and breathing becomes difficult or impossible. This
reaction is called anaphylaxis, and medical attention should be sought
immediately.
Since there is such a wide array of symptoms that
can be exhibited when a food allergy is triggered, it is sometimes
difficult to know whether the symptoms indicate an allergic reaction to
food, or something more serious or benign. The key to knowing the
difference is usually the timing of the occurrence of symptoms. With a
food allergy, symptoms almost always appear within just a few seconds or
a few minutes after eating the offending food. Most children who have
food allergies will have a skin reaction such as hives or flushed skin
within just a few minutes after eating. If you suspect that your child
may have a food allergy, it is important to get an appointment with a
pediatric allergist. This doctor will get a thorough history detailing
your child’s sensitivities to various foods, and then use blood tests or
skin tests to determine whether your child has any food allergy
antibodies.
If your child eats something and has even a mild
reactive symptom, it’s important to pay attention to that and call your
pediatrician for advice. Just because your child has a mild reaction the
first time doesn’t ensure that the next reaction will also be a mild
one. When it comes to food allergies, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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