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In view of the dramatic increase in childhood food allergy in other countries, a study was conducted in Cape Town to determine the prevalence of allergy to foods such as cow's milk, hen's egg, peanuts, cashew nuts, soya, wheat and codfish, in 100 randomly selected children suffering from atopic dermatitis (also known as eczema) - a condition regarded as a risk factor for food allergy. The average age of the children in the Cape Town study was 3 ¾ years. It was found that peanuts were the most common trigger (26%), followed by egg (24%). Interestingly, fish (3%) and cow's milk (2%) allergies were much less common.
Gray and Kung concluded that the prevalence of food allergy among this high-risk population of young South African patients suffering from atopic dermatitis is high, and that the incidence of food allergies appears to be equivalent to the incidence found in other westernised countries. Such increases in food allergy have also been recorded in other African countries such as Ghana, Health24 reports.
Read the full article on www.health24.com.
