Europrevall-INCO survey in China

Monday, 11 April 2011 12:03

The standardised Europrevall questionnaire was used to survey and compare the incidence of food allergies in urban and rural parts of China. The results were presented at the AAAAI meeting that was held in San Francisco in March 2011.

A total of 28,283 children aged 6-11 years from Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou city, and rural Shaoguan were enrolled in the study. Their parents were asked to complete the survey questionnaires.

The results indicate the prevalence of food allergies is very low in rural populations. The prevalence of probable food allergy (using a study-specific definition) was highest in Hong Kong (3.8%), with 2.5% in urban Beijing 1.8% in Guangzhou city, 0.2% in rural Beijing, and 0.1% in rural Shaoguan.

Any factors associated with the protection against food allergies in rural populations remain to be determined.

Reference: Wong et al. 2011 AAAAI Annual Meeting. Abstract 118