This page is about food allergies which are increasingly common and are said to occur in 1 in 20 of children.
A child may be allergic to any number of foods. Some children have allergies to multiple foods and some children are allergic to only one particular food.
This page answers the following questions:
Food allergy is broadly divided into groups depending on the mechanism of the allergy. So allergies to food may be:
Most children who are allergic to a food are allergic to one of the following:
Children may also be allergic to other foods, including fruit.
Some children have Oral Allergy Syndrome:
Some children are allergic to raw or lightly cooked food but can tolerate the food when it is heated. This is because the heat changes the shape of the protein and so the food protein can't set up the allergic reaction. This happens particularly with egg and milk allergy. However, dry roasting peanuts makes them more likely to cause an allergic reaction.
The symptoms of food allergy include:
For most food allergies such as milk and egg, repeated exposure by a child to food he is allergic to does not lead to an escalation of symptoms. So your child is unlikely to have a severe reaction to a food if he has not already had one in the past with that food.
However it is not the same with peanut and tree nut allergies. Although there is generally no escalation of symptoms and most children will not have an anaphylactic reaction to them with repeated exposure to peanuts or tree nuts, there are some children who will have a future serious reaction having only had a mild one before. Unfortunately, you can't tell which children will have a future serious reaction, so if there is an allergy to peanut or tree nuts, it is very important that they are not ingested.
If your child is allergic to a food, that food should be removed from your child's diet. If your child is on quite a restricted diet because of multiple food allergies, then you should see a dietician to ensure your child is receiving the correct nutrition.
It is important that strict elimination of the food from the diet occurs and you will need to read food labels and look for hidden sources of the food.
If the food causes an itchy rash, (urticaria), then you might have Cetirizine or another anti-histamine at home that you can give, should your child inadvertently consume the food.
If your child has had an anaphylactic reaction to the food, then you should have been instructed on the use of Epinephrine and you should use this - read more.
Not necessarily. If a skin prick test (or RAST/EAST test which test blood IgE levels) is positive, it means your child has reacted to that food protein on the skin - it doesn't necessarily mean your child will react to the food if eaten. The larger the skin reaction, the more likely your child will actually be allergic to the food.
If skin prick tests are positive, it is important that you only exclude that food if a reaction is likely. So a small skin prick reaction to a food your child seems to have no trouble with does not mean that your child is allergic and you should not exclude that food from the diet. Only exclude foods if there is a very large reaction and there is a supporting history (so there has been a reaction after that food).
Excluding foods on the basis of positive skin prick tests can lead to your child becoming undernourished and this may not be necessary as you child may not even have an allergy to that food.
This is why it is important not to test a food unless you have concern there may be an allergy. Testing foods your child tolerates without problems may only lead to confusion is the skin prick test is positive
If your child is on a very restricted diet because of allergy, you should see a dietician to ensure adequate nutrition for growth and development.
Most children do grow out of food allergy usually by school age. Some food allergies, particularly peanut and other nut allergies, can last forever.
Once your child is about 2 year old or so, it is worthwhile to try giving the food to your child every 6 months or so, as long as there is no history of anaphylaxis or an IgE mediated reaction (in which case, you should only give the food under medical supervision, usually in hospital).
In most cases of eczema, there will not be any food allergy. However, in some infants, particularly young babies with severe eczema, allergy may be a factor.
In these cases, skin prick tests may be positive and even if they are not, it may be worthwhile trying an elimination diet (so give an extensively hydrolysed formula) for 4 weeks to see if there is improvement. If no improvement occurs, allergy is unlikely to be contributing to the eczema. If there is improvement, foods need to be introduced back into the diet one at a time until you know what the offending food is. The most likely foods will be milk, egg, soy and wheat.
In most cases, colic is not caused by food allergies. In babies who have a history of allergy who are not breast-fed who have severe 'colic symptoms', it may be worthwhile trying an extensively hydrolysed formula (formula with the protein broken down already) for 2 to 4 weeks - if there is no improvement after this time, allergy is not a cause for the colic and you should return to the baby's usual formula.
No, there is no evidence that delaying the introduction of foods like egg, dairy, soy, nuts or wheat will make any difference to whether your child develops eczema or asthma or allergy.
Unless your child has shown a clear allergic reaction to a food, there is no advantage in delaying introduction of it, so give from 4-6 months when you wean your child. This is even when there is a history of allergy, eczema or asthma in your family.
If your child is at high risk of allergy, so there is a strong family history of allergy, you can do the following:
The following are not recommended to prevent allergy as there is no evidence for them:
To go to the top of the food allergies page, click here
To go to the main Allergy page, click here
To read about Skin Prick Tests, click here
To read about milk allergy, click here
To read about egg allergy, click here
To read about nut allergy, click here
To return to the Home page, click here
Last reviewed 18 March 2016
We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here. |
Dr Maud MD (MBChB, FRACP, FRCPCH), a specialist pediatrician, provides health information and medical advice for parents of babies and toddlers. Read more about Dr Maud.
We're so excited to announce our first Children Book
The Special and Talented Dog Show
To order click here
The second book published is called
Flying Things
This is aimed at a pre-school audience and is a rhyming story. You can buy by clicking here
To read more about our children's books, click here
We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.
Thanks for your "straight to the point" advice! I am very happy that you decided to add your wisdom to the internet for all to read. You made a very worrisome toddler's fever day into something a lot calmer.
Fred, Sweden
Excellent website. Plain english - reassuring and direct. Great resource - thank you.
David, Australia
Dear Dr.Maud, I had to write a thank you note for all the work you put into this site to make our life easier! We had many questions and worries but we found all the answers here very easily. You helped us to find a way to make our little boy eat again and calmed our worried minds when he was sick.. So much useful information, I recommend your website to all moms and dads I know. Thank you so much, you are fantastic! Have a wonderful day! :)
Sophie, Singapore
Thank you so much. I have taken ... to three different Dr.'s and you are the first to answer my questions in a manner that I can understand. You explained everything in English for once, and told me things that none of the other Dr.'s did. Thank you again. I really appreciate your help.
Machelle, United States