Nearly 1 in 12 American children has a food allergy – WebMD

MONDAY, Nov. 19, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Nearly 8% of American children have food allergies and one in five children suffers from an allergic reaction serious enough to end up in hospital, reveals new study.

"Food allergies in children are relatively common and need to be taken seriously – one in five has a reaction that takes them to emergency every year," said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, principal investigator at the Fernberg School of Medicine. , professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University. in Chicago.

The most common allergies are peanuts, milk, seafood, nuts, eggs, fish, wheat, soy and sesame, Gupta said.

The peanut is the most widespread food allergy and affects about 2 million children. Then come milk (1 million), crustaceans (1 million), nuts (1 million), eggs (close to a million), fish (less than half a million). , wheat and soy (0.4 million) and sesame (0.15 million), she said.

Of those children who are allergic to sesame, at least one in three has had a reaction that is serious enough to be able to go to the emergency room over the past year, Gupta said.

Dr. Kari Nadeau, senior author, director of the Allergy and Asthma Research Center Sean N. Parker of Stanford University in California, said that food allergies were increasing because children do not are not exposed to a variety of foods at a young age.

People are leading a cleaner life, she said. "We are not exposed to the farm, animals and dirt, we know that if you have a dog at home during the first year of your life, it will protect you from allergies," Nadeau said.

Another way to prevent food allergies is to expose children early to the foods that cause them, she said.

"The late exposure of children to these foods actually resulted in an increase in food allergies," said Nadeau.

In addition, adequate amounts of vitamin D and the prevention of dry skin are also important to reduce the risk of developing a food allergy, she said.

Prevention is the only treatment available, Nadeau said. It means avoiding foods that you are allergic to, but it can be a challenge.