If you suffer from food allergies, consider your rank in the
family birth order. According to a study out of Japan, firstborn
siblings are more likely to suffer from food allergies than their
younger brothers and sisters.
In a survey of more than 13,000 children ages 7 to 15, food
allergies were prevalent in four percent of firstborn children, 3.5
percent of second-born children, and 2.6 percent in subsequent
siblings.
Firstborns were also more likely to suffer from symptoms like an
itchy, running nose and inflammation of the eyelids than their
younger siblings.
The findings likewise suggest that food allergies may have a
prenatal origin, as food allergies decreased significantly as birth
order increased.
In a study published last November, researchers found that
mothers who consume peanuts during their pregnancy could be putting
their babies at increased risk of a peanut allergy. The study,
published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical
Immunology, evaluated 503 infants across the US, ages three to
15 months, with milk or egg allergies or with severe eczema -- all
factors associated with an increased peanut allergy.
A total of 140 infants showed strong sensitivity to peanut-based
blood tests, and the consumption of peanuts during pregnancy was a
significant predictor.
While previous studies have found links between general
childhood allergies and birth order, the Japanese researchers say
theirs is the first to show a link between specific food allergies
and sibling birth order.
In an interview with MyHealthNewsDaily, study researcher Takashi
Kusunoki of the Shiga Medical Center for Children in Shiga, Japan,
postulated that younger siblings may be spared from food allergies
because the mother's immune system in the womb changes with
multiple pregnancies.
Kusunoki also hypothesized that younger children develop
stronger immune systems than their older siblings because more
children in the house means more germs. That means younger siblings
may be exposed to more pathogens at an earlier age.
The study was presented during the 2011 Annual Meeting of the
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in San
Francisco earlier this week.
The abstract for the study can be found at
http://annualmeeting.aaaai.org/, and is No. 525.
To prevent younger children from developing the same food
allergies as the firstborn, one study recommends eliminating the
offending food from the mother's diet from the third trimester on,
and continuing the ban until the child is two years old.
According to researchers from the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
in Australia, seven out of ten babies born to mothers who took
avoidance measures had no food allergies, compared to 45 percent of
babies whose mothers took no precautions.
Pediatricians recommend eliminating the offending food from both
the mother's diet and the household environment.
Breastfeeding has also been shown to protect children against
the development of allergies.
-- AFP