A government survey shows parents are finding more food and skin allergies in their children, according to the Associated Press.
The new survey, which was done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, discovered about 1 in 20 children in the United States suffer from food allergies. This is a 50% rise since the late 1990s. 1 in 8 children suffer from eczema and other skin allergies—a 69% increase from the late 1990s.
Sally Schoessler of the National Association of School Nurses in Silver Spring, Maryland, was a school nurse for a New York school in 1992. She said during her first few years at the school, no child had a food allergy. When she stopped being a school nurse in 2005,"there were children in the majority of classrooms" with food allergies.
However, it has been hard to pinpoint the reason.
"We don't really have the answer," said Dr. Lara Akinbami from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It is not easy to get specific numbers for food allergies. The new report used annual surveys conducted by interviewing thousands of adults. The report also got information by comparing answers from surveys done in the last three years of the 1990s with surveys done from 2009-2011.
The surveys were conducted by asking parents if, during the previous year, their child experienced a digestive allergy, skin allergy, respiratory allergy such as hay fever, or eczema. A possible flaw with the survey was the lack of questions about confirmation of the child’s allergy. Surveyors did not ask if a doctor diagnosed the allergy. Therefore the answers could have been the opinion of the parents.
Some doctors, like Pediatric Allergist Morton Galina of the Emory School of Medicine, see many cases where children are suspected to have certain allergies—but their parents worry unnecessarily.
Other doctors believe the vast amount of disinfecting in the home may come as a detriment to a child. Exposure to certain germs and bacteria may strengthen the child’s immune system. This is called the “hygiene hypothesis.” Another possible cause could be the way in which foods are manufactured.
The CDC report found further information:
-African American children accounted for more of the skin issues at 17%. Caucasian children were at 12% and Hispanic children were at 10%.
-Skin allergies such as eczema were most common with poorer families.
-Food and respiratory allergies occurred more in higher-income families.
The report was released Thursday.
