How Food allergies vary with Age and Gender?

Researchers in the EU-funded EuroPrevall recently came across more than 900 published reports to know the percentage of people who are having food allergy in the society.

Many people believe that the number of individuals with food allergy is increasing. It's conjointly a bearing gained by the doctors running allergy clinics that the incidence of food allergies changes with age and varies across completely different geographical areas. However, we tend to typically lack research results that may clarify whether this is in fact true.

Children and Food Allergy

It is an impression gained by allergy doctors that milk and egg allergies are among the foremost common forms of food allergy in kids. At the age of 3-5 years several of the kids with milk and egg allergy have outgrown their allergy. Alternative foods which frequently inflicting hypersensitivity in older kids are peanut, fish, and tree nuts. These allergies can usually last for a lifespan.

Adults and Food Allergy

Clinical evidence suggests that fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, and peanuts are accountable for most allergic reactions among adults. Most of the hypersensitivity among adults begin attributable to cross-reactions ensuing from allergies to pollen or latex. Those who are allergic towards pollen or latex could experience problems when eating certain fruits, vegetables, and nuts. This usually happens because our bodies can differentiate the allergens in pollen or latex and similar proteins that are present in the foods.

Geographical Differences

The occurrence of food allergy most likely varies across different geographical areas e.g. because of completely different dietary patterns and variations in exposure to pollen. For example, fish allergy seems to be more common in countries like Norway, Portugal and Japan wherever fish is consumed in larger amounts than in most other countries. Another example is hazelnut allergy, that seems to be additional common in geographical areas wherever birch pollen is plentiful due to cross-reactivity between the birch pollen and hazelnut. 

Gender Differences

Little info exists on gender differences in food allergy in kids. In adults, an effect gained by allergy doctors is that food allergy is additional common in women. However, it's not best-known whether this gender distinction is because of physiological variations or to variations in health-seeking behaviour between men and women.