The Recent Rise in Popular Food Allergies
In recent years, food allergies have become a growing health concern, particularly amongst children. The CDC has recorded a significant increase in allergy occurrences within children over recent decades. This trend has increased this topic’s relevancy and left parents scrambling for answers to protect their children.
What Even is a Food Allergy?
Food allergies occur when a food is mistakenly attacked by the body’s immune system. Reactions can range from mild issues like skin rashes to severe issues like anaphylaxis. Food allergies are different from “food intolerance”. Food intolerance is typically less dangerous than a true allergy and does not involve the immune system.
The Most Popular Food Allergies
According to the Food and Drug Administration, a small number of foods account for most allergic reactions. These are known as the “Big 9” and include the following:
Wheat
Milk
Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Soy
Fish
Eggs
Shellfish
Sesame
Due to this identification, the FDA requires these ingredients to be clearly labeled on packaging to limit accidental consumption.
Why the Increase?
While the exact cause for the recent rise is still being researched, potential theories have been proposed. For one, some believe that improved cleanliness has caused a weaker immune system. Today, children’s bodies face smaller amounts of germs and other microbes at a young age, allowing their bodies to become complacent, overreacting to certain foods.
Another potential cause is alterations in young children’s diets. Foods, such as peanuts, are not often consumed regularly by modern children at an early age. Researchers believe that these foods may not generate a strong immune system response if introduced at an early age. Since the foods are not introduced to young children, their immune systems can be taken off guard when the food is introduced later on.
Additionally, doctors, researchers, and specialists argue that improved diagnostics and awareness have allowed many sensitivities to be diagnosed. Overall awareness and food availability make it easy to recognize a food allergy, cut the food out, and make a substitution.
What Can we Do?
If you or your child has a food allergy, careful attention is required. Modern advancements aid parents in this journey. Ingredient labels alert readers to potential allergens and contaminants. We recommend that parents check these labels carefully. When eating at a restaurant, we encourage visitors to ask questions about the menu, cooking conditions, and potential contaminants. For severe allergies, tools such as Epi-Pens may be used to control potentially serious reactions. While all of these steps are important, increased awareness and understanding are the greatest tools available. As more individuals become educated, the greater the awareness. We hope this awareness will create more research and more answers to explain the recent trends.
We hope you found this information helpful!
-Kaitlyn from the ClearHealth Team
Credits: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Food Allergy Research & Education