Preventing food allergies in children

If parents or siblings have allergies such as asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis ., babies born will be more susceptible to food allergies than usual. This risk will be minimized if the baby is exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months.

Food allergy is the body's reaction to certain substances in food. In professional terms, these substances are called allergens. The rate of food allergy in children is 2-8% and tends to decrease with age.

Allergies can occur a few minutes or a few hours after eating. Symptoms may include: swelling, itching of the throat, mouth, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, dizziness, rash, itching on the skin. More severe than dyspnea, lower blood pressure, even death .

Some children develop late symptoms (several days after eating food containing allergens) including dermatitis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, persistent cough, runny nose, constipation, sweating, Anorexia, decreased concentration and poor sleep.

The severity of the disease depends on the time of the reaction after eating, the amount of food the child has consumed and the child's location.

However, distinguish food allergies from food intolerance, such as lactose intolerance. Lack of lactose is an enzyme that helps digest lactose in milk, so when you eat cow's milk, your child will have symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, bloating, bloating, and even rash on the skin. However, the immune system does not participate in the mechanism of these symptoms, so we do not call it allergy. In some underdeveloped countries, people consume less lactose-containing preparations (milk and dairy products), so the lactose-secreting glands are atrophic, causing the problem of lactose intolerance.

The allergenic foods are peanuts, almonds, fish, seafood, eggs (especially egg white), milk . Remember, your child's immune system takes time to form a reaction. immune to allergens in food. That's why food allergies rarely occur when first exposed to that food.

What to do to prevent food allergies in children?

Children born in families with allergies will be prone to food allergies, so they should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months. When children turn into a weaning age, do not rush to feed many new foods at the same time. Start with less allergy foods like rice and tubers. Avoid giving children industrially prepared foods such as bacon, pork, pigments, artificial spices.

Consult an allergist when you suspect your child is allergic to a certain food. Doctors will visit, ask for a disease and may perform some specialized tests such as a child's skin test or a blood test (RAST) to ascertain the food that the child is allergic to. However, the accuracy of this test is not high. Therefore, you cannot rely solely on test results to determine your child's diet. Some tests have higher accuracy but lower safety as stimulation test with the same type of suspicious food. This test should be performed under the supervision of an allergist.

When you know your child is allergic to a certain food, remove it from your child's menu. Do not prepare or store your child's food in bowls with food allergies.

However, food allergies do not last a lifetime, so you do not need to force your child to abstain from any kind of food. After a while, you can feed your child back to the food (except those that cause an acute allergic reaction such as anaphylaxis).

MSc Hoang Thi Lam , Health & Life