Food allergies and asthma in children

Monday, 31 January 2011 10:05

Children with food allergies often have concurrent asthma, which is a serious comorbidity in those who suffer from anaphylaxis. A recent study sought to determine the prevalence of asthma in children with food allergies and identify the association of specific food allergies with asthma.

Parents of almost 800 food-allergic children provided data in response to questionnaires provided by researchers based at Boston’s Harvard Medical School. Forty five percent of children in this cohort suffered from asthma. Egg and tree nut allergy were found to be significantly associated with asthma, independent of other risk factors including environmental allergies, and family history of asthma.

Reference: Gaffin et al. 2011. Clinical Pediatrics Vol. 50(2) pp. 133-139. DOI: 10.1177/0009922810384720