Child Ailments Mistaken for Food Allergies

Published: 21 February 2008

Researchers behind a study at Portsmouth Unversity have found....

...that when a child develops a rash, tummy ache, diarrhoea and crying, parents assume an allergy or intolerance to a specific food.  Scientists have linked the trend of parents diagnosing their children's allergy or intolerance to the increasing numbers of celebrities who claim they have food allergies, which has driven awareness.

However the study exposes the myth that increasing numbers of children are suffering from food allergies.  The study found that food allergies and intolerances have not increased since a previous study 20 years ago, and that the number of parents who think their child has an allergy is in excess of the actual figure. Genuine food allergies, particularly life-threatening conditions such as a peanut allergy are relatively rare.

The study led by Dr Carina Venter at Portsmouth University involved 807 babies born on the Isle of Wight in the one year.  Parents of more than a third of the children (272) claimed their child was allergic or intolerant to one or more foods. 
However by the age of three the researchers found that the real total was less than 60 children and the most common allergens were peanuts, eggs and milk.

A child coming out in a rash, itching or hives followed by tummy ache , vomiting or colic, were the key reasons which led parents to think their child was allergic to a food.

Dr Venter said that by the age of three about 75% of the children who were allergic to, or intolerant of, milk had outgrown their reaction and half had outgrown their reaction to eggs.