Child Food Allergy Rise, NICE Issues Draft Guidelines

Filed in archive Food Allergies on August 11, 2010

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Based on data on UK hospital admissions, it has been estimated that food allergies in children have risen by 500% in the last two decades. I think a lot of people, especially those personally dealing with (food) allergies, already know that allergies has been on the rise, but 500% in 20 years is an awful lot!

Upon closer examination, however, it became apparent that this figure is grossly exaggerated. According to the draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), only around one in five of people who think they have a food allergy actually do (you can download the draft here for further reading).

Studies have shown that where as up to 17 per cent of people think they are allergic to milk, when challenged with diary products, only three per cent were actually showed symptoms.

Seven per cent said they were allergic to eggs but the real figure was less than two per cent.

More than a third said they were allergic to some form of food but when tested this turned out to be just one in ten.

This is nasty in at least two ways. Not only are these children who are wrongly diagnosed getting unnecessarily deprived of certain foods and thus lowering their quality of life and perhaps even upping the risks of malnutrition, these cases of misdiagnosis also puts those who have real allergies in a tenuous position, making it more difficult for other people to accept and respect that there are many out there who are really deathly allergic to certain foods.

According to the NICE report, the culprit in these cases of misdiagnosis are inaccurate home testing and mail order kits that people use as an alternative to the more time-consuming and costly conventional allergy skin and blood tests.

The draft guideline from NICE also clarifies issues on the diagnosis and assessment of food allergies in children and young people, and rcommends that a food allergy should be considered if the child has one or more of the following:

* Skin conditions, such as eczema or acute itchy rash (urticaria)
* Respiratory complaints, such as sneezing or shortness of breath
* Gastrointestinal problems, such as vomiting, difficulty in swallowing or constipation
* Anaphylaxis (a severe hypersensitive reaction) and other allergic reactions