Approximately 8% of US children have some kind of food allergy, researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine reported in the journal Pediatrics. 38.7% of those with a food allergy have a history of severe reactions, while 30.4% are allergic to several foods, the authors added.
Symptoms in a severe reaction may include wheezing and anaphylaxis, when the patient finds it hard to breath and has an abrupt drop in blood pressure.
The most common allergens for children were found to be peanuts, milk and shellfish.
Previous studies had estimated that 4% of US kids have some kind of food allergy.
Study leader, Ruchi Gupta, MD, MPH, wrote:
“The large, population-based nature of this study shows that pediatric food allergy is a significant and growing problem in our society. Based on our data, about 1 in every 13 children has a food allergy. What’s more, nearly 2 out of every 5 affected children suffer from a severe food-allergy.
For these children, accidental ingestion of an allergenic food may lead to difficulty breathing, a sharp drop in blood pressure, and even death. Now that we understand just how far-reaching the problem of food allergy truly is, we can begin taking the necessary steps to keep these children safe.”
Dr. Gupta and team evaluated data on nearly 40,000 American homes with children. Household members were asked several questions, including any past or present food allergies among children, when the allergy started, how it was diagnoses.
Dr. Gupta said:
“What makes this study so unique is not only the large number of households surveyed, but the amount of data collected for children with a reported food allergy. With this data we are able to differentiate between perceived and convincing food allergies, understand racial and economic differences in food allergy, and understand trends in food allergy diagnosis and testing. For example, Asian and Black children were more likely to have a convincing history of food allergy, but were less likely to receive a formal diagnosis when compared with White children.”
The researchers hope their study will build awareness of the prevalence of food allergies, resulting in an overall improvement in the quality of life for children and their parents or caretakers.
Older children are more likely to have severe symptoms. The researchers believe this is because older children are supervised less intensively by their parents – a child of 14 is more likely to walk down the street and buy something containing, say peanuts, than a 4-year old who is next to a parent or adult most of the time. Peer pressure may encourage a 14-year-old to eat like the others in order to fit in.