RATIONALE FOR ELIMINATING CERTAIN FOODS IN CHILDREN WITH FOOD ALLERGY

Abstract

Background: Some caregivers of children with food allergy may eliminate specific foods from the diet of these children without first consulting doctors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of such practice and the sensitization of the offending foods. Methods: All participants were patients aged one year or over who visited our outpatients unit with complaints of food allergy. Caregivers of the patients were asked to fill out a questionnaire to state the eliminated food items and the grounds for avoidance (“doctor's instructions”, “family's judgment”, and “not consumed in daily diet”) of nine food items including chicken egg, cow's milk, wheat, soy bean, rice, buckwheat, peanut, sesame and shrimp. Data on food-specific IgE titers were extracted from the patients' electronic medical charts. Results: A total of 463 subjects were included in the analyses. Prevalence of patients with specific food avoidance of each of the food item was higher in the lower age group than the higher age group. More than 83% of the patients who avoided chicken egg, cow's milk or wheat were advised by their doctors to do so, while less than 49% of patients who avoided buckwheat did so for the same reason. The percentage of the patients who showed positive sensitization to buckwheat, peanut or shrimp, and avoided it without doctor's instructions, was 46%, 48%, and 34%, respectively. Conclusion: While the majority of caregivers of the children who visited our outpatient unit eliminated specific foods according to doctor's instructions, a considerable proportion of them do so inappropriately without first consulting a doctor.