Posted by Sue Landsman on Jun.14, 2009

If you look at the children around you these days, it seems that all sorts of allergies have increased — asthma, eczema, food allergies — and it’s hard not to be paranoid. Especially when you’re the mother of an infant, it’s easy to overexamine every little bump in their development. You might suspect that crankiness, vomiting, or rashes might be an allergy. But how much should you worry?

A study by the University of Portsmouth in England has shown that mothers, predictably, worry too much and that surprisingly, rates of food allergies and intolerances are not on the rise.

Researchers at the university monitored over 800 babies for three years to determine the true incidence of food allergies. They found that this incidence did not match what the parents thought about their children; over a third of the parents believed their children had food allergies or intolerances, but only 60 of the children ever showed any reaction to a food. At the age of three, only 27 of them had any demonstrated food allergy. The babies were tested at six months and then at one, two and three years.

It’s very easy for a mother to suspect that any problem must be a food allergy. Parents of children in the study reported issues such as rashes, diarrhea, crying, hives, and eczema. Mainly they blamed milk, eggs, fruit, wheat, fish, nuts, and soy. The most common sources of allergic reactions, however, were peanuts, eggs, milk, wheat, and nuts such as brazil nuts or almonds. The researchers didn’t test for peanut allergies before the age of three because they did not want to expose the younger children to this possible allergen because of the extreme allergies it can cause. Children with peanut allergies can have reactions as severe as sudden anaphylactic shock

Another similar study came out twenty years ago in the US, and gave the English researchers a benchmark with which to compare their results. They were surprised to find that the prevalence of food allergies hadn’t increased. They also had looked at the increase in asthma, skin conditions, and hay fever and assumed that food allergies must be increasing the same way. Not only did the number of allergies not increase, but it had actually dropped.

So what’s a mom to do? There’s no point in saying “don’t worry so much,” because, well, that’s your job. Considering that there’s an unlimited host of things to worry about when you’re a mom, though, it’s useful to get a sense of what can be pushed lower on the radar. Because, of course, along with the worry about whether your child has a food allergy comes the worry about whether you’re hurting your child by feeding them the wrong thing, or whether you should have noticed it sooner or done anything differently. This kind of stress can only harm you and make parenting more difficult. So having a sense that food allergies are actually less common than they seem is an important data point for maintaining your sanity.

If you do believe your child has a food allergy, then it’s important to tell your doctor your concerns. A good doctor will listen to you even if your thoughts are based on instinct rather than any sort of evidence. It’s important to get good medical advice because you don’t want your child’s problems to go undiagnosed, or to have an allergy misdiagnosed. Many parents without a sympathetic doctor try to figure out an allergy problem themselves by putting their children on exclusion diets; regimens in which suspected allergens are completely removed from the diet for a period of time. This can often be difficult for a child, especially if they’re told they can’t have milk or pizza, or crackers or birthday cake. If you suspect your child has a food allergy, it’s preferable to have the help of your doctor to find out in the least troublesome way.

Most children outgrow milk and egg allergies, but are less likely to outgrow fish and peanut allergies. Of course, you can’t assume that your child will outgrow an allergy, nor should you assume that it will lessen with age. Before you make any decisions regarding changing the feeding of your child regarding allergies, it’s wise to talk with your pediatrician.

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Posted under Family, GDM Baby.