[Food hypersensitivity in children]

Abstract

Food hypersensitivity affects children and adults with an increasing prevalence, and is therefore an important public health problem in the majority of developed countries. Moreover, self-reported reactions to food are of several times higher prevalence, compared to hypersensitivity diagnosed following well established evidence-based diagnostic guidelines. In children, allergic food reactions are more common compared to non-allergic food hypersensitivity reactions, and 90% of them are caused with only 8 food allergens: cow's milk, soya, egg, fish, shellfish, peanut, tree-nuts and gluten. Diagnosis should be based on challenge tests with the potentially offending food allergens. Concerning other, more conservative diagnostic procedures, negative serology and negative skin-prick tests can exclude IgE-mediated food allergy, but positive tests, due to high rate of false positive reactions are not sufficient for diagnosis. Strict dietary avoidance of incriminated allergens is the only well established management strategy. However, this should be applied only if food allergy is well documented - following the exposition tests. Introducing elimination diet in a paediatric population, particularly with the elimination of multiple foods, could cause inappropriate growth and disturb organ maturation. Concerning allergy prevention, avoidance of allergens is not efficacious either during pregnancy and lactation or weaning period, and is therefore, not recommended neither as a population preventive measure, nor in children at risk.