We’re the ‘allergy capital of the world’. But we don’t know why food allergies are so common in Australian children

Australia has often been called the “allergy capital of the world”.

An estimated one in ten Australian children develop a food allergy of their first 12 months of life. Research has previously suggested food allergies are more common in infants in Australia than infants living in Europe, the United States or Asia.

So why are food allergies so common in Australia? We don’t know exactly – but local researchers are making progress in understanding childhood allergies on a regular basis.

What causes food allergies?

There are many differing kinds of reactions to foods. When we discuss with food allergies in this text, we’re talking about something called IgE-mediated food allergy. This sort of allergy is brought on by an immune response to a specific food.

Reactions can occur inside minutes of eating the food and will include swelling of the face, lips or eyes, “hives” or welts on the skin, and vomiting. Signs of a severe allergic response (anaphylaxis) include difficulty respiration, swelling of the tongue, swelling within the throat, wheeze or persistent cough, difficulty talking or a hoarse voice, and protracted dizziness or collapse.

Recent results from Australia’s large, long-running food allergy study, HealthNutsshow one in ten one-year-olds have a food allergy, while around six in 100 children have a food allergy at age ten.

In Australia, probably the most common allergy-causing foods include eggs, peanuts, cow’s milk, shellfish (for instance, prawn and lobster), fish, tree nuts (for instance, walnuts and cashews), soybeans and wheat.

Allergies to foods like eggs, peanuts and cow’s milk often present for the primary time in infancy, while allergies to fish and shellfish could also be more common later in life. While most kids will outgrow their allergies to eggs and milk, allergy to peanuts is more prone to be lifelong.

Findings from HealthNuts showed around three in ten children grew out of their peanut allergy by age six, in comparison with nine in ten children with an allergy to egg.

Are food allergies becoming more common?

Food allergies appear to have develop into more common in lots of countries all over the world over recent many years. The exact timing of this increase will not be clear, because in most countries food allergies weren’t well measured 40 or 50 years ago.

We don’t know exactly why food allergies are so common in Australia, or why we’re seeing an increase all over the world, despite extensive research.

But possible reasons for rising allergies all over the world include changes within the diets of moms and infants and increasing sanitisationresulting in fewer infections in addition to less exposure to “good” bacteria. In Australia, aspects reminiscent of increasing vitamin D deficiency amongst infants and high levels of migration to the country could play a job.

In several Australian studies, children born in Australia to oldsters who were born in Asia have higher rates of food allergies in comparison with non-Asian children. On the opposite hand, children who were born in Asia and later migrated to Australia appear to have a lower risk of nut allergies.

Meanwhile, studies have shown that having pet dogs and siblings as a young child may reduce the danger of food allergies. This may be because having pet dogs and siblings increases contact with a spread of bacteria and other organisms.

This evidence suggests that each genetics and environment play a job in the event of food allergies.

We also know that infants with eczema usually tend to develop a food allergy, and trials are underway to see whether this link could be broken.

Can I do anything to stop food allergies in my kids?

One of the questions we’re asked most frequently by parents is “can we do anything to stop food allergies?”.

We now know introducing peanuts and eggs from around six months of age makes it less likely that an infant will develop an allergy to those foods. The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy introduced guidelines recommending giving common allergy-causing foods including peanut and egg in the primary 12 months of life in 2016.

Our research has shown this recommendation had excellent uptake and could have slowed the rise in food allergies in Australia. There was no increase in peanut allergies between 2007–11 to 2018–19.

Introducing other common allergy-causing foods in the primary 12 months of life might also be helpful, although the evidence for this will not be as strong compared with peanuts and eggs.

What next?

Unfortunately, some infants will develop food allergies even when the relevant foods are introduced in the primary 12 months of life. Managing food allergies is usually a significant burden for kids and families.

Several Australian trials are currently underway testing latest strategies to stop food allergies. A big trial, soon to be accomplished, is testing whether vitamin D supplements in infants reduce the danger of food allergies.

Another trial is testing whether the quantity of eggs and peanuts a mother eats during pregnancy and breastfeeding has an influence on whether or not her baby will develop food allergies.

For most individuals with food allergies, avoidance of their known allergens stays the usual of care. Oral immunotherapywhich involves regularly increasing amounts of food allergen given under medical supervision, is starting to be offered in some facilities around Australia. However, current oral immunotherapy methods have potential unintended effects (including allergic reactions), can involve high time commitment and price, and don’t cure food allergies.

There is hope on the horizon for brand new food allergy treatments. Multiple clinical trials are underway around Australia aiming to develop safer and simpler treatments for individuals with food allergies.