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. 2016 Nov 15;11(11):e0166347.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0166347. eCollection 2016.

Food-Related Symptoms and Food Allergy in Swedish Children from Early Life to Adolescence

Jennifer L P Protudjer  1   2 , Mirja Vetander  1   2   3 , Inger Kull  1   3   4 , Gunilla Hedlin  2   5 , Marianne van Hage  2   6 , Magnus Wickman  1   2   3 , Anna Bergström  1   2
Affiliations

Food-Related Symptoms and Food Allergy in Swedish Children from Early Life to Adolescence

Jennifer L P Protudjer et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Risk factors for persistence of food-related symptoms (FRS) and food allergy (FA) from early life to adolescence are incompletely understood. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for FRS and FA in adolescence amongst children with FRS or FA in the first four years of life (early life).

Methods: In children enrolled in a Swedish birth cohort and followed to 16 years (n = 2572), we defined children with early life FRS in the absence of FA, and FA. Corresponding phenotypes were defined at 16 years. Associations between potential risk factors at 4 years and FRS and FA at 16 years were investigated using logistic regression.

Results: Early life FRS and FA prevalences were 12.2% and 6.8%, respectively. Amongst children with early life FRS, 35.7% had FRS or FA at 16 years, whereas 74.3% of the children with early life FA had FA at 16 years. For each of the early life phenotypes, parental allergy, early life allergic multimorbidity, early life reactions to peanuts/tree nuts and IgE reactivity at 4 years were statistically significantly associated with FRS or FA at 16 years. In contrast, male sex was associated with an increased risk of FA at 16 years among children with early life FA only.

Conclusions: In early life, food-related symptoms are twice as common as food allergy. Unlike food allergy, food-related symptoms often remit by adolescence. Yet, these phenotypes have many common risk factors for persistence to adolescence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Subjects of the BAMSE birth cohort included in the study population and outcomes of symptoms of food-related symptoms (FRS) and food allergy (FA) at 16 years.
*Categorisation of FHS at 16 years not possible if early life FA per our definition of FRS (symptoms in the absence of doctor-diagnosed food allergy). †5.4% had a systemic reaction and 1.8% had anaphylaxis. ‡16.9% had a systemic reaction and 12.3% had anaphylaxis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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