Nilton Carlos Machado*

Associated Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Botucatu Medical School - São Paulo State University, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil

*Shared Authorship: Nilton Carlos Machado, Associated Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Department of Pediatrics, Botucatu Medical School - São Paulo State University, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Received: February 24, 2023; Published: February 28, 2023

Abstract

Food allergy (FA) is a specific abnormal clinical immune reaction to food proteins that falls under the broad umbrella of adverse food reactions. FA is a major global health problem, and its geographic distribution may be linked to genetic, environmental, lifestyle, and dietary habits [1,2]. Although more than 160 foods can cause allergic reactions, in industrialized Western countries, eight foods are considered significant allergens (cow’s milk, soy, egg, wheat, fish, shellfish, peanuts, and tree nuts) [3]. These food allergens are responsible for 90% of allergic reactions, mainly in the first year of children’s life. Optimistically, in more than 80% of cases, these allergies spontaneously recover within the first three years of life.

References

1. Genuneit J., et al. “Overview of systematic reviews in allergy epidemiology”. Allergy 72 (2017): 849-856.
2. Loh W and Tang M. “The Epidemiology of Food Allergy in the Global Context”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15 (2018): 2043.
3. Benedé S., et al. “The rise of food allergy: Environmental factors and emerging treatments”. EBioMedicine 7 (2016): 27-34.
4. Sicherer SH and Sampson HA. “Food allergy: A review and update on epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and management”. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 141 (2018): 41-58.
5. Dunlop JH and Keet CA. “Epidemiology of Food Allergy”. Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America 38 (2018): 13-25.
6. Vandenplas Y., et al. “A workshop report on the development of the Cow’s Milk-related Symptom Score awareness tool for young children”. Acta Paediatrica 104 (2015): 334-339.
7. Proctor KB., et al. “A systematic review of parent report measures assessing the psychosocial impact of food allergy on patients and families”. Allergy 77 (2022): 1347-1359.
8. Cummings AJ., et al. “The psychosocial impact of food allergy and food hypersensitivity in children, adolescents and their families: a review”. Allergy 65 (2010): 933-945.
9. Howe L., et al. “What affects quality of life among caregivers of food-allergic children?” Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 113 (2014): 69-74.e2.
10. Warren CM., et al. “Epidemiology and Burden of Food Allergy”. Current Allergy and Asthma Reports 20 (2020): 6.
11. Ward CE and Greenhawt MJ. “Treatment of allergic reactions and quality of life among caregivers of food-allergic children”. Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology 114 (2015): 312-318.e2.
12. Gupta RS., et al. “Childhood Food Allergies: Current Diagnosis, Treatment, and Management Strategies”. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 88 (2013): 512-526.
13. Westwell‐Roper C., et al. “Food‐allergy‐specific anxiety and distress in parents of children with food allergy: A systematic review”. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 33 (2022).
14. Beken B., et al. “Maternal anxiety and internet‐based food elimination in suspected food allergy”. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 30 (2019): 752-759.
15. Yrjänä JMS., et al. “Parental confusion may result when primary health care professionals show heterogeneity in their knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions regarding infant nutrition, food allergy, and atopic dermatitis”. Allergologia et Immunopathologia (Madr) 46 (2018): 326-333.

Citation

Citation: Nilton Carlos Machado. “Food Allergy Affects Children and, at the Same Time, Influences many Aspects of the Parents or Caregivers’ Lives". Acta Scientific Paediatrics 6.3 (2023): 01-02.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Nilton Carlos Machado. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.