| Food allergies in children |
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Karen's ResponseHi Tracey True food allergies are an immune response to a substance in the environment that is normally harmless. An overactive immune system produces IgE antibodies in response to an allergen. This then triggers a chain reaction releasing defence chemicals into the tissues.Common culprits include egg, peanut, milk, other nuts, sesame and seafood. With symptoms ranging from mild eczema to life threatening anaphylaxis. Due to their maturing immune systems, infants and children more commonly have food allergies than adults. Surveys show that between 5-8% of children aged 0-5 years have a food allergy with only 1% of the adult population still retaining this allergy. It’s common for kids to grow out of milk and egg allergies, however peanut allergies usually remain into adult life. In fact as a severe anaphylactic response can be caused by a trace of nut (even from kissing someone who has just eaten a peanut butter sandwich) the government has recently legislated new food labelling laws so people can identify nuts in food products. It’s important to distinguish between true food allergy that is diagnosed by skin prick tests and a food intolerance that is non life threatening. Children in your care that have a severe food allergy need to be protected from accidental exposure and an appropriate action plan needs to be established for emergency treatment. Accidental exposure may occur say from taste testing food samples on school excursions, but it can also occur in less obvious circumstances like inadvertently using nutshells and egg crates in art projects. Regards Karen Inge |
Hi Karen, I’m a primary school teacher and have found that an increasing number of parents are informing our school of their child’s allergies. How common are food allergies in children and what are the most common types? - Tracey