Recent Research: Some Facts about Food Allergy

Did you know there has been an 18% increase in food allergy in children over the past 10 years according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)?

Did you know 90% of foods responsible for food allergy include: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat?

Did you know children with food allergy are two to four times more likely than other children to have asthma and other allergy problems?

Did you know reports show about 27% of children with food allergy have eczema or other skin allergies compared to 8 percent of most other children?

Did you know overall 3.8% of boys and 4.1% of girls have food allergy according to National Center Health Statistics.

Did you know that most children outgrow their food allergies but peanut allergy is often not outgrown?

Did you know recent research has found that children that have been restricted from having peanuts in the first few years have a higher incidence of developing peanut allergy later on?

Research has identified many more facts that impact our outlook on food allergy.

For many years I have advised parents restrict high risk children (family history of food allergy, eczema or asthma) from peanuts until about 5 years of age. In fact, pregnant women were advised to avoid peanuts and shellfish. Recent research shows that many of these restrictive measures do not reduce the development of food allergy.

I am not ready to advise parents to give high risk children peanut butter or peanuts in the early years of life, based on the above recent findings.

I have stopped recommending diet restrictions during pregnancy to prevent food allergy in children because there are multiple studies citing no significant benefit.

If suspect you or your child has food allergy consult your doctor. Testing should be done to confirm the specific food.

Why is testing important?

Food allergy should be confirmed in order to support the necessary steps in avoidance, and treatment, should accidental re-exposure occur. Unnecessary avoidance measures may be taken when food allergy is falsely assumed. In the case of peanut allergy life threatening reactions may occur. People allergic to peanut, shellfish or any other food associated with throat swelling, difficulty breathing or light-headedness should have an Epi-Pen or TwinJect for emergency use.

A consultation with a board certified allergist should be considered if food allergy is severe or not well established.