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More Kids Have Food Allergies Than Ever, New Study Shows… But Why?
Kids' food allergies are on the rise, new study shows
Why do more kids seem to have food allergies than ever before? When I was a kid, I didn’t know a single person who had a food allergy, but my son has been in a “peanut-free” classroom every year of his elementary school career.
A new U.S. study from the journal Pediatrics shows that food allergies are more prevalent and more dangerous than we ever knew.
According to the study of more than 40,000 families with at least one child under age 18, 8% of kids are allergic to at least one food.
To compare, a 2009 government survey reported that around 4% of kids suffered a food allergy.
Why do more kids seem to have food allergies now?
In a Today show segment on childhood food allergies, one possible cause discussed was the fact that children are not introduced to some foods as early as children used to be.
Peanut allergies top the list of the most commonly reported food allergies, with milk, shellfish, tree nuts, egg, fin fish, strawberry, wheat, and soy also making the list.
What’s scary about food allergies is that the reactions can be very severe in some cases, with 40% in the study who have food allergies suffering wheezing, difficulty breathing and a sudden drop in blood pressure.
Food allergies were highest in kids ages 3- to 5-years-old, according to the study, but teenagers were most likely to have severe reactions.
Study researcher Ruchi S. Gupta, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, explains that in older children “They’re going out with their friends and they don’t want to feel different. They may not ask the ingredients in everything, you know, at a restaurant, in front of people.”
Do you have a child that suffers a food allergy
Get more details about the symptoms of food allergies in this Today show video clip.
Peanut Allergy Fears & Risks: Raising a kid with allergies
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22 Comments
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More Kids Have Food Allergies Than Ever, New Study Shows… But Why? | Parenting News commented on Jun 23 11 at 4:07 amAndrea commented on Jun 22 11 at 10:39 pmSeverely compromised immune systems? Could be from vaccines. There are 26 kids in my homeschool group, all under 12. Autism rate? Zero. Food allergies? Zero. Asthma? Zero. Number of kids on medication for chronic illness? Zero. We’re all non-vaxing.
Larissa commented on Jun 22 11 at 10:46 pmNo offense Andrea, but that is a very unscientific way to draw a conclusion. Maybe vaccines are a contributor, maybe not, but the self-selected population of your homeschool group and their non-autism-having, allergy & asthma-free selves is not a valid method of figuring it out.
goddess commented on Jun 22 11 at 11:54 pmVaccines manipulate the auto-immune system and put strain on t-cell responses. I am not going to Google for you- but Andrea’s NOT the only one pointing a finger at the possibility y of vaccines. And another theory I’ve heard is that it’s the vaccines that target viruses, not bacteria, that are implicated in auto-immune issues and vaccines.
michele commented on Jun 23 11 at 1:08 amOh for god’s sake… I’m in my 50s and I got vaccines. No one had food allergies. Please don’t blame it on vaccines.
goddess commented on Jun 23 11 at 1:36 amMichele- compare the amount and type f vaccines YOU received versus the kids now. I’m NOT in my 50s yet and I’ve had a mere FRACTION of what my kids each had.
“In 1900, the smallpox vaccine was the only one administered to children. By the early 1950s, children routinely received four vaccines, for protection against (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, and smallpox), and as many as five shots by two years of age. Since the mid-1980s, many vaccines have been added to the schedule. As of 2009, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommends vaccination against at least fourteen diseases. By two years of age, U.S. children receive as many as 24 vaccine injections, and might receive up to five shots during one visit to the doctor. The use of combination vaccine products means that, as of 2009, the United Kingdom’s immunization program consists of 10 injections by the age of two, and a further three injections (or four, including the human papillomavirus vaccine) by the time of leaving school.”
Amy Bo Bamy commented on Jun 23 11 at 10:31 amAnd I can name even more than 26 kids in public school, all under 12. Autism rate? Zero. Food allergies? Zero. Asthma? Zero. Number of kids on medication for chronic illness? Zero. We’re all VAXERS!!!
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Woohoo for anecdotal information!
Anonimom commented on Jun 23 11 at 10:48 amI can’t help thinking that the increase in allergies has more to do with what we do to food than what we do to ourselves (ie vaccines). How much of our food is GMO compared to even 20 years ago? How many chemicals and pesticides are sprayed on our food or the soil our food grows in compared to 50 years ago? The amount of sugar, HFCS, processed corn, soy, and wheat that we pour into our systems from the moment that we can handle solid food is mind blowing. We no long eat food grown on a plant; we eat food made in a plant. Perhaps there wouldn’t be so many food allergies if we were still eating the same food, at the chemical, biological, and evolutionary level, that people have been eating since the dawn of agriculture. Maybe we haven’t evolved fast enough to keep up with the forced “evolution” of our food stuffs to be bigger, cheaper, and more plentiful. PS- My son is allergic to wheat, eggs, peanuts and food dye as diagnosed by his doctor with a blood test. However, with the exception of wheat and food dye, he can easily tolerate grass fed, free range eggs and organic peanuts. That’s my anecdotal 2 cents.
goddess commented on Jun 23 11 at 11:52 amThat’s a definite possibility worth exploring Anonimom.
goddess commented on Jun 23 11 at 11:56 am@Amy Bo Bamy: the amount of types of shots have increased- no anecdotes there. And they’d have us believe that food allergies and asthma has as well. By numbers, not anecdotes.
Do you not think that something that interfaces and evokes responses from the immune system should be investigated when auto-immune disorders also rise? Correlation does not equal causation, but it certainly provides enough question to merit stringent investigation.
Lest you label me an anti-vaxer: my kids are up to date on their vaccines, though that will change if they mandate Gardisil or flu vaccines. :-)
michelle commented on Jun 23 11 at 12:17 pmFrom Wikipedia entry on peanut allergies: “A study conducting jointly in Israel and United Kingdom in 8600 children noted a nearly 10 fold increase in incidence of peanut allergy among U.K. children compared to Israeli children. It was found that Israeli children were given peanuts at a much younger age than those in the U.K. due to recommendation of pediatricians in the U.K.”
michelle commented on Jun 23 11 at 12:19 pmAndrea doesn’t understand the difference between correlation and causation. She homeschools. Therefore homeschooling is bad.
LooloosMommy commented on Jun 23 11 at 1:35 pmlol The knee jerk vax blame for everything is really amusing these days. I wonder if people who do this can even hear themselves speak. Now with that being said I am not saying they have no guilt in some matters, but you have to look at the reality of the situation. We do now vax for EVERYTHING, we do, its crazy and while I do vax I opt out of some. HOWEVER, we also pump chemicals into so much that we consume. Food, containers, sunscreen, paint, soap, hair products, for the most part you name it its full of harmful chemicals. Kids are exposed to so much more now. We stay pretty organic, but am I going to smack the lunchable out of my daughters hand that her friend is sharing with her? Am I going to forbid cute plastic cups? (only if there not BPA free right! …..oh wait that was all bs…..possibly, at least until the next wonder product) No, and I betting I am not the only one whose kids are exposed more than I would like. The reality is our children are exposed to so much and we really dont know the consequences, and many are all to happy to find a scapegoat like vaccines.
Jerry commented on Jun 23 11 at 2:52 pmVaccines are made using peanut oil. Vaccines contain aluminum whose purpose is to promote a hyper immune response to the vaccine antigens. The body gets confused and attacks the peanut oil. When a child starts eating foods that contain even minute amounts of peanuts, the body now starts a hyper immune, hyper allergic response. It’s really simple (and quite sickening if you think about it). I thought vaccines were supposed to prevent disease, not the opposite. Oh well, they have to get new customers if they want to grow profits.
Andrea commented on Jun 23 11 at 3:23 pmMichelle has LRC (low reading comprehension). Either that or she doesn’t understand the difference between “could be” and “definitely is”.
Kari commented on Jun 23 11 at 3:55 pmWouldn’t it be fun if Andrea and the 26 kids became crippled by Polio and then became blind and deaf from Rubella and finally died of Diphtheria? Plus I am super sick of people benefitting from my kids getting their vaccines. If your child is not vaccinated while my child is, my child will not get your child sick, however, your child will never be able to go to other countries or interact with people who may have been to another country because they may get an illness they cannot fight off. Get your own protection and stop using mine!
Megan commented on Jun 23 11 at 4:45 pmEh, I never understood the reasoning behind waiting to introduce peanuts, etc. to avoid allergies, but recomending that infants be exposed to furry animals a lot in the first year of life to prevent animal allergies. The 2 different pieces of advice always seemed contradictory to me. Also recent studies show that early introduction(4-6 months) of gluten containing foods lowers the risk of Celiacs Disease (not an allergy, it’s an autoimmune disease). While vaccines may be a contributing factor to some cases of allergies(everyone’s immune system is different), I think that the bigger problem is not allowing kids to get dirty. My DS7 has been playing in the dirt, sand and grass since he was about a month old. He also started solids at 4 months and had eaten all of the common allergens by the time he was 6 months old. He has no allergies and is rarely sick. He is also completely up to date on all of his vaccines. The only vaccine he has not had that is recomended for his age is the flu vaccine. My DD6months is on the same track. She frequently tries to “eat” our cats and I’m sure has ingested some sand at the playground when I turn my head to look at her big brother. I’m not worried about it at all. My husband has severe seasonal allergies, and I’m allergic to penicillin and mushrooms, but we still exposed the kiddos to those things early(penicillin only if necessary and prescribed by a doctor of course).
goddess commented on Jun 23 11 at 4:58 pm@Kari- wow! That’s virulent. But I’m hear to tell you that it’s NOT your choice. YOU choose to vax YOUR kids and every other parent does the same. Even though our 3 younger are vaxed to date, our oldest one was left with severe brain damage from his DTP vaccines and died from that damage. It’s no one elses’ call to make. You can’t force another parents to place risks upon their child against their own better judgment.
@Megan- you might be on to something. My own anecdote is that I, myself am a peanut-holic and consumed much higher amounts of peanut butter through all 4 of my pregnancies- no peanut allergies.
LogicalMama commented on Jun 23 11 at 5:29 pmMore anecdotal info here– I grew up eating nuts. I was not breastfed. I played in the dirt often ( never washed my hands and bit my nails often, btw). I had lots of eczema but no asthma. I was a child of the late 60′s so was vaccinated according to the protocol of the time. I got my yearly colds and caught the flu every once in a while too. Flash forward to age 19 and I suddenly became allergic to tree nuts and seeds! In my 30′s it was discovered I have autoimmune issues. I don’t feel well often, but I rarely get sick! I’m currently trying a gluten-free diet and will soon go dairy free as well to see if that helps with the internal inflammation. I’ve also been highly encouraged by a number of people recently to try the GAPS diet (?). I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who have successfully re-introduced foods that they weren’t able to tolerate (or were allergic to) previously after completing the GAPS diet. It really is encouraging.
I think there is something to be said about all the environmental aspects of recent history and how it changes our delicate immune systems. Genetically modified foods (if scientists can genetically modify the foods we eat, how ignorant is it of us to think that that will in no way modify us genetically upon ingestion?!), industrialization, pesticides, vaccines, processed foods, medications, etc. We are foolish if we ignore the impact of what we put in our bodies and how it can change our internal systems, whether good or bad. Actions have reactions….. it’s proven in nature and we have been messing with nature!
goddess commented on Jun 23 11 at 5:36 pm@logicalmama: quite logical!
Jenna commented on Jun 23 11 at 5:37 pmIt doesn’t specify that these are people with severe allergies, could this just be that we’re diagnoing it now when we didn’t before unless it was really severe?
Zoetrope88 commented on Jun 24 11 at 12:31 pmFirst, I see a lot of arguments that have a percentage of merit, based on Geography, family history and exposure. All of them might work for some portion of the population, but none are exclusive or all-inclusive.
Our manufacturing process for food and labeling doesn’t tell you where each ingredient comes from or if it’s been radiated/cross-polinated/handled by people with immuno-compromising diseases,etc. ALL of that adds to the bottom line of why children’s Immune systems are changing.
A child with a Milk allergy may have NO idea they’re eating Tuna processed with Casein, which is a milk product. Eggs are used as the incubation for most Vacinations, which can trigger responses in un-diagnosed allergies at a very early age. My husband has had a longstanding problem with Ceolics Disease, that went unchecked and confused for other random issues for YEARS, before the right combination of self-research and thorough doctors figured it out!
We live in houses LOADED with PVC, Cities with Lead/Copper/Iron waterworks, water treatment plants that miss drugs dumped in record amounts that affect Neurological and genetic functions, etc. There are a LOAD of reasons, that we can only hope to pair down or correct as we understand them more. Business is business though, so much of it might be here to stay for a long time, until we can all work together with an agreed purpose.
What you all have also missed is something a bit more simple. Almost EVERYTHING we wash with these day, attempts to offer some form of Anti-bacterial component! Anti-Microbial toys, hand sanitizers, water, clothes, etc. With all this “pure” we are losing something very important. The Body needs something for the Immune system to attack, so it can build immunities and help the body “learn” to adapt. Without that, your immune system starts looking for other things to attack. What’s left? Protein chains in food. So, eat a peanut/egg/wheat/etc… The bored and stripped IS goes after it with vehemence. You have to be exposed to allergens to develop an allergy OR resist it!
Best effort folks. Read your labels, INSIST the companies you shop from have websites that include definitions of their ingredients and sources. wash with old-fashioned soap. Let your kids play in the dirt, so long as it’s not on top of a buried pot ash dump… Be familiar with where you live and what you eat. Other than that, just do the best you can.
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