Confusion Over Allergies

Food allergy in children is on the rise – but perhaps not by as much as it is perceived to be.

Last year, a House of Lords report said the number of people with allergies had trebled in the past 20 years, with up to 7% of infants now suffering from a food allergy.

However, a new study from Portsmouth University suggests there is no evidence of a rise at all, concluding that many parents’ perception about food allergy is out of all proportion to reality.

The research found that more than a third of the mothers of 807 babies studied said their child was allergic to at least one food. However, the number who proved to be allergic to any food by the age of three was fewer than 60.

Professor Tara Dean, who led the study, says: “A lot of parents are worried their child may have a food allergy, but our findings suggest that it’s not as common as they think.”

She adds: “It’s quite difficult for parents to differentiate between a common ailment and food hypersensitivity. One of the first things parents think of when their child is unwell is that it might be caused by food, but that’s not necessarily the case.”

Of those in the study who were allergic to a food at the age of three, the most common culprits were peanuts, eggs and milk.

Rashes, itching or eczema were the main reasons parents gave for thinking their child had a food allergy, followed by tummy ache, vomiting, diarrhoea or constipation. Respiratory problems, including shortness of breath, asthma, wheezing, a runny or itchy nose and coughing were also cited.

Certainly such symptoms may be the result of an allergy, which can also make the lips and soft tissues swell, and cause shock.

Child allergy expert John Warner, professor of paediatrics at St Mary’s Hospital, London, says that if reactions occur rapidly after eating, allergy is likely to be the cause. But there can sometimes be a delay in the onset of symptoms – a food allergy might make eczema worse over a few days, for example.

Warner insists that the Portsmouth researchers’ conclusion that allergies aren’t rising is not necessarily correct as several other studies show continuing increases in food allergy and related problems. Furthermore, there has been an increase in complaints about allergy to doctors, and more hospital admissions because of allergy.

But he agrees that people believe the problem is worse than it actually is, pointing out that up to 20% of people think they’re allergic, while only about 5% really are.

He adds: “It can be very difficult for parents to tell whether a child has a food allergy – but the message is, people’s perceptions about it are in excess of the reality.”

Q”My eight-year-old son takes a healthy packed lunch to school, including fruit every day. Surely that can only aid his attentiveness in class?”

ADr Michael Nelson, director of Research & Nutrition at the School Food Trust, says: “The School Food Trust carried out a study in primary schools to see if pupils in schools that changed their menus and served healthier lunches and made the dining-room a nicer place (the “intervention” schools) were more likely to be attentive in the classroom after lunch than pupils in schools that had made no changes to food or the dining-room (the “control” schools).”The findings showed that when pupils were involved directly with the teacher (about 80% of the time), they were much more likely to pay attention and be focused on what they were doing in the intervention schools than in the control schools. “When the pupils were working in groups on their own, however, they seemed less likely to be focused in the intervention schools.”"One explanation is that, after a healthy lunch in a nice environment, pupils have an increased state of mental arousal. This could explain why they might have increased levels of ‘off-task’ behaviour when they were being asked to work together without direct teacher supervision.”

… deal with a child who lies

1 Don’t talk about the lie, but talk about a solution to the behaviour he’s lying about.

2 Don’t force him to be honest, but make it easy for him to own up by smiling and being gentle as you ask if he’s telling the truth.

3 Remind your child what happens if he lies – someone else gets the blame, and he won’t be trusted in future.

(c) 2008 Press and Journal, The Aberdeen (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.