Food Allergies on the Increase in American Children

Boston (DbTechNo) - Results of four new surveys find that up to 4% of all children living in America have some form of food related allergy.

The surveys, published in Monday’s journal Pediatrics paint a disturbing picture when it comes to allergies and food, and suggest that the number of US children with some form of food allergy is on the up and up.

Nuts continue to be the number one food item when it comes to food allergies, but other foods such as fish and wheat are also beginning to make a name for themselves.

Since 1993, the researchers report that the rate of childhood food allergic reactions has jumped by as high as 18 percent.

“To see almost a tripling of visits in a 13-year period is pretty good evidence that this isn’t just parents hearing about food allergies on the news and then thinking their children have it,” said Amy M. Branum, a statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics. “We used four different surveys, and to see an increase in food allergies in all of those surveys is very telling.”

“People should be aware that food allergy may really be increasing,” Branum said. “If small children have symptoms when they eat a particular food, have that child checked out, particularly if they have co-occurring conditions like asthma and eczema.”