With serious food allergies on the rise, it's hard to know if
your child is at risk. Here's how to keep her safe, even when you're not
around.
Copyright Jessica Snyder Sachs, as first published in Parenting
Ann Wood's* son Daniel almost died when he was 2 - from a snack. At first, Wood hadn't been worried when she'd called home from work and her babysitter mentioned that Daniel had just thrown up after eating an almond butter sandwich. "These things happen," she'd reassured her babysitter. "Just keep an eye on him." When Wood called back 15 minutes later, though, Daniel had developed diarrhea. When she called a third time, as she rushed home to their New Jersey suburb, he was struggling for breath. "Call 911 right now!" she instructed.
As Daniel emerged from an ambulance at the hospital, his face was covered with large red welts. The paramedics had found him in anaphylactic shock, which meant that his throat was swelling shut and his blood pressure was plummeting toward zero. They brought him back with injections of the stimulant pinephrine and an inflammation-squelching steroid. The next day, Wood and her husband learned that Daniel's reaction was from a life-threatening food allergy to peanuts, a trace amount of which had likely cross-contaminated the almond butter.
Now in second grade, Daniel isn't the only one of his friends
with food allergies. Five kids in his grade carry EpiPens, the prefilled
syringes that contain enough epinephrine to reverse a severe allergic reaction.
And his grade is hardly unique. In the U.S., about 1 in 12 children under 3
have food allergies, and around 150 die each year because of them. Outside the
U.S., the problem is no less serious; the incidence of food allergies in kids
around the world has at least doubled over the last decade.
"The increase seems to be part of a general rise in
allergies of all kinds," says Scott Sicherer, M.D., a pediatric allergist
at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine and author of Understanding and
Managing Your Child's Food Allergies.
While it's not clear what's behind this disturbing trend, many
experts think it may have to do with the so-called Hygiene Hypothesis: that
modern life - with its lack of exposure to the "germiness" of
infiltered water, dirt, and animals - can leave people's immune systems prone
to overreact to harmless substances. The result: Even something as
innocent-seeming as a peanut can cause the body's defenses to go into
overdrive. As overactive immune cells release histamine and other inflammatory
chemicals, they produce symptoms such as hives, itching, diarrhea, and in
severe cases, life-threatening anaphylaxis.
While regular exposure to relatively harmless bacteria might
help make us less allergy-prone, no medical expert would advocate going back to
the days of rampant cholera and intestinal parasites. So where does that leave
us? Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your child's risk of
developing food allergies, and ways to handle them if they arise.
A Family Affair
The first thing you'll want to figure out is your family's
allergy history. "The more people in your family who have allergies, the
greater the risk your child will have one," says Dr. Sicherer.
Kathleen Murray-Lyons, of Townsend, Delaware, has allergies and
asthma, so her pediatrician suggested special measures to decrease her
1-year-old son James's chances of food allergies. He recommended she delay
introducing James to certain foods that are common allergens, such as nuts and eggs,
and offer even low-allergenic foods, like carrots and rice, only gradually and
one at a time. (See What to Introduce When). "So far, so good," says
Murray-Lyons.
Another tactic doctors recommend: Wait to introduce any solids
to your baby until after 6 months (as opposed to 4 months), since studies have
found that this significantly decreases the risk of your child developing food
allergies. As for what you should eat if you're breastfeeding, studies are
mixed as to whether it's helpful to eliminate allergenic foods from your diet.
Talk to your doctor about your particular case.
How to Recognize and Respond
Figuring out that your child has a food allergy can be half the
battle. Leslie Norman-Harris of Woolwich Township, New Jersey, recalls the
night her daughter, Camryn, 4, ate a mouthful of rice with shrimp.
"When she told us her mouth felt itchy, my husband and I
looked at
each other and said, 'Uh-oh.'" Fortunately the symptoms subsided, but they
knew not to give Camryn any more shrimp.
Other symptoms (which almost always appear a few minutes after
eating the offending food):
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Itching (throat, mouth, eyes, skin, and/or ears)
Lip swelling
Rash (hives or a flare-up of eczema)
Throat tightness (trouble swallowing or breathing)
Tongue swelling that obstructs the mouth
Chest pain
Dizziness
Sudden paleness or blueness, unconsciousness, and/or a faint
pulse
For a mild allergic reaction, such as stomach upset or a rash, watch your child
carefully in case she gets worse, and call your doctor. To relieve discomfort,
you can give her a weight-appropriate dose of an antihistamine such as Benadryl
or its generic equivalent (diphenhydramine).
If your child has a severe allergic reaction (like throat
tightness, lip swelling, or unconsciousness), call 911. She may need an
injection of epinephrine. Later, talk with your doctor about whether you should
keep epinephrine on hand.
Testing and Treatment
If you think your child has a food allergy, see your doctor, who
may recommend a pediatric allergist. He'll likely perform one of two tests: the
classic skin-prick, which entails scratching a small amount of the allergen
into the skin and watching for a reaction, or a blood test that screens for
allergy-related antibodies.
But know that allergy tests are far from perfect, says Hugh
Sampson, M.D., director of the Jaffee Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai
School of Medicine. It's possible to have an allergy that doesn't show up on a
test, or for a test to show that your child is mildly allergic to a certain
food even though he can eat it without a problem. Bottom line: Diagnostic tests
are best used to help confirm a suspected allergy, rather than to go fishing
for possible ones.
Another alternative for determining food allergies is simply to
talk about your child's symptoms with your doctor. Dr. Sampson, for example,
says he looks for common patterns. Does the child always develop symptoms
within minutes of having a particular food? Is it a food known to provoke
allergies? If the answers are yes, then you may be dealing with a food allergy.
Once you know your child is allergic to a food, the best thing
to do is avoid it entirely. (Allergy shots, while often effective for
respiratory allergies, aren't usually used to treat food allergies because there's
a greater risk of a dangerous reaction.) If your child does accidentally eat
the wrong thing, the best line of defense is to follow your doctor's emergency
plan, which will likely include relieving symptoms with an antihistamine or an
emergency shot of epinephrine, depending on how severe the symptoms are.
Several promising treatments are now being studied. Most involve
"immunizing" a person against the food allergen by injecting a
modified version of it together with a substance that tells the immune system
to "back off," or treat it as harmless. If these treatments pan out,
they may become available as soon as 2010.
Avoiding Allergens
Steering clear of allergenic foods can be one of the toughest
jobs a mom can take on. Fortunately, as of January 2006, the Food and Drug
Administration requires all food labels to state if ingredients include any
protein derived from one of the eight major allergenic foods. But you still
need to be vigilant about reading the fine print on labels, which can contain
surprises.
"Who would ever have thought that baby-food meats would
have dairy in them?" says Jennie Oko of Westmont, Illinois, who has became
an ingredient detective ever since her son Matthew, 3, was diagnosed with a
dairy allergy as a baby.
Next: Make Your Child Food Smart
Not only do you need to be careful about keeping problem foods
out of your house, you also need to teach your child to steer clear of them in
other settings. "You don't want to scare him," Dr. Sicherer cautions.
Just calmly explain, "Mommy and Daddy don't want you to feel sick, so it's
important that you take food only from us and Grandma."
Dr. Sicherer even suggests role-playing together - for instance,
by pretending to be a visitor offering him a cookie. If he starts to accept it,
say something like "Uh-oh. Remember what we talked about - visitor doesn't
know about your allergies."
You'll also need to get used to explaining your child's dietary
restrictions when you eat out. A recent survey found that restaurant workers
generally don't realize that something as small as a cross-contaminated serving
spoon or frying pan could trigger a severe reaction.
"I Want What They're Having!"
For young children, not being allowed to eat what other kids do
can be upsetting. When Sabrina Sciarrotta was 18 months, "she was so eager
to have everything her big sister, Julia, had," recalls her mom, Monica,
of Brea, California. "But while Julia was fine with dairy, Sabrina got
headaches and broke out in rashes." To avoid a conflict, Sciarrotta now
doles out Julia's yogurt and milk only when Sabrina is napping.
There will inevitably be times, though - at birthday parties,
for instance - when your child can't ignore her limitations. Get in the
habit of sending your child to such events with "safe"
food alternatives. At school, be sure to explain her food allergy to her
teachers and the nurse. If your child has a severe allergy, see if her school
will even send notes home to her classmates' parents, explaining that certain
foods shouldn't be sent in for sharing.
Outgrowing Food Allergies
The good news is that many children's food allergies go away by
age 5. In fact, milk, egg, wheat, and soy allergies disappear nearly 85 percent
of the time. So if your child has sworn off, say, soy for several years, ask
the doctor if it's a good idea to reintroduce it to him again. She may suggest
repeat allergy tests under medical supervision.
While you're still dealing with food allergies, however,
remember that "life should not be viewed as a mine field," says Dr.
Sicherer. Wood agrees: "We try to protect Daniel while letting him live a
normal life."
Allergy - or intolerance?
Many people use the terms "food allergy" and
"food intolerance" interchangeably, but they're very different
things. An allergic reaction involves a misguided immune response to an
otherwise harmless substance. The result is runaway inflammation, which produces
the rashes, itchiness, and swelling typical of allergies.
An intolerance results when a child (or adult) lacks one or more
digestive enzymes needed to break down a food ingredient. Gas, bloating, and an
achy stomach are the hallmark symptoms. (Lactose, or milk sugar, is by far the
most common offender.) An intolerance can cause serious stomach pain but,
fortunately, isn't life threatening.
* Name has been changed for privacy, at the request of the
family.
Jessica Snyder Sachs is the author of Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and
Survival in a Bacterial World (Hill & Wang/FSG).
