Children and Food Allergies

Children’s food allergies can cause parents immense amounts of anxiety. Lisa Cronin’s 7 year old daughter Samantha first developed a food allergy when she was only one month old. Lisa was nursing and supplementing with dairy based formula. “I noticed that she was developing some eczema. At that time I was unfamiliar with any type of children’s food allergy.” As an infant, Samantha suffered for months with eczema, but at 7 months her pediatrician suggested soy milk. It did the trick and the eczema cleared up. But, just a few months later, Lisa discovered that Samantha was allergic to milk. “I had given her a piece of cereal dipped in my skim milk and she got a little bit of red and little bumps that looked like small hives,” says Lisa.

Like Lisa, many new parents will experiment and try to introduce table foods to expand their child’s diet. But, if given before the age of one, some foods can cause serious, even fatal reactions due to a child’s food allergies.

“The first sign of food allergy in a child is usually eczema which is a dry, itchy, scaly skin condition. You can develop more severe manifestations all the way to anaphylaxis which could include wheezing, cardiovascular collapse,” explains Dr. Samuel Grubman of St. Vincent’s Hospital. Citrus fruits, strawberries and chocolate should be avoided as a precaution against children’s food allergies.

“As a precaution against children’s food allergies, there are certain foods that are not recommended for the first year of life. Eggs are not recommended, shellfish, fish, nuts and peanuts are not recommended until after the first year of life, specifically after the age of two,” says Dr. Grubman.

However, if an infant is at high risk of children’s food allergies, that is if they are born to parents who suffer from food allergies or their siblings are allergic, eggs should be not introduced until after age two and fish, shellfish and nuts should not be introduced until after the age of three. Lisa learned this lesson about children’s food allergies the hard way. Her younger son Hunter was just over a year old when she discovered he too had food allergies.

Sesame ignited a terrible allergic reaction in little Hunter. “I was eating humus, which I thought would be a good healthy snack for him, so I gave him some on my finger. He started getting blotchy red and his eyes got hives, and he was itching and scratching himself furiously. I looked at him and I thought, oh my gosh, he is allergic to this!” The bottom line is that children’s developing bodies cannot efficiently process and break down food the way an adult’s system can, which can lead to severe food allergies in children.

“It has to do with the fact that infants are born with a more permeable, less mature gastrointestinal tract, as well as a less mature immune system. Because of the increased permeability of the gastrointestinal track to various foods, infants are more likely to develop allergic reactivity to the proteins in those foods if they are introduced to those foods at an earlier age,” explains Dr. Grubman.

Lisa and her children now avoid all dairy, eggs, nuts and sesame. Samantha carries an Epipen in the event of an allergic reaction. As a family, Lisa says they’re comfortable with their diets and know their precautions are protecting her children. Dr. Grubman emphasizes all parents of children with food allergies must always read food labels. They should also learn how to identify specific ingredients on labels. If in doubt, call your pediatrician before giving your child the food product in question.