Recent studies suggest that children are becoming more likely to develop a food allergy, and scientists have identified multiple possible reasons why.
Dr. Alexandra Santos, a Senior Clinical Lecturer at King’s College London’s Department of Paediatric Allergy, wrote in a BBC article released on Monday that “the frequency of food allergy has increased over the past 30 years, particularly in industrialised societies. Exactly how great the increase is depends on the food and where the patient lives.”
King’s College London’s Enquiring About Tolerance (EAT) Study of 1,300 three-year-old children in the U.K. found that about 2.5 percent have peanut allergies. A study of Australian one-year-olds found that about nine percent are allergic to eggs and three percent to peanuts.
Scientists have several theories as to why allergy rates are rising. One is that people are less likely to develop parasitic infections, which leads the antibodies that fight parasites to attack harmless triggers. Another possible explanation is vitamin D deficiency, often caused by people spending too much time indoors.
A third explanation is the “dual allergen exposure” theory, which says that the development of food allergies comes down to a combination of exposure, timing, and the dose. Some studies suggest that eating regular amounts of common trigger foods can lead to a reduced rate of allergies.
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