Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Jun;35(6):e14163.
doi: 10.1111/pai.14163.

Diagnosis and management of food allergy-induced constipation in young children-An EAACI position paper

Rosan Meyer  1   2 , Yvan Vandenplas  3 , Adriana Chebar Lozinsky  4 , Mario C Vieira  5 , Roberto Berni Canani  6 , George du Toit  7   8 , Christophe Dupont  9 , Mattia Giovannini  10   11 , Pinar Uysal  12 , Ozlem Cavkaytar  13 , Rebecca Knibb  14 , David M Fleischer  15 , Anna Nowak-Wegrzyn  16 , Carina Venter  15
Affiliations
Review

Diagnosis and management of food allergy-induced constipation in young children-An EAACI position paper

Rosan Meyer et al. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

The recognition of constipation as a possible non-Immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic condition is challenging because functional constipation (unrelated to food allergies) is a common health problem with a reported worldwide prevalence rate of up to 32.2% in children. However, many studies in children report challenge proven cow's milk allergy and constipation as a primary symptom and have found that between 28% and 78% of children improve on a cow's milk elimination diet. Due to the paucity of data and a focus on IgE-mediated allergy, not all food allergy guidelines list constipation as a symptom of food allergy. Yet, it is included in all cow's milk allergy guidelines available in English language. The Exploring Non-IgE-Mediated Allergy (ENIGMA) Task Force (TF) of the European Academy for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) considers in this paper constipation in the context of failure of standard treatment and discuss the role of food allergens as culprit in constipation in children. This position paper used the Delphi approach in reaching consensus on both diagnosis and management, as currently published data are insufficient to support a systematic review.

Keywords: constipation; cow's milk allergy; food allergy induced constipation; food protein induced constipation; non‐IgE‐mediated allergy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Vandenplas Y, Broekaert I, Domellof M, et al. An ESPGHAN position paper on the diagnosis, management and prevention of cow's milk allergy. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2023;78:386‐413. doi:10.1097/MPG.0000000000003897
    1. Carroccio A, Iacono G. Review article: Chronic constipation and food hypersensitivity – an intriguing relationship. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006;24(9):1295‐1304.
    1. Ricci G, Dondi A, Neri I, Ricci L, Patrizi A, Pession A. Atopic dermatitis phenotypes in childhood. Ital J Pediatr. 2014;40:46. doi:10.1186/1824-7288-40-46
    1. Muraro A, Werfel T, Hoffmann‐Sommergruber K, et al. EAACI food allergy and anaphylaxis guidelines: diagnosis and management of food allergy. Allergy. 2014;69(8):1008‐1025. doi:10.1111/all.12429
    1. Heine RG. Gastrointestinal food allergies. Chem Immunol Allergy. 2015;101:171‐180. doi:10.1159/000371700

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources