Peanuts, milk, shellfish? 1 in 12 kids may have food allergies

As many as one in every 12 kids in the United States may have a food allergy, according to a new study that appears to confirm that the condition is more widespread â€" and perhaps more dangerous â€" than previously thought.


“Understanding how common it is and how severe it is, that’s important to note,” said Dr. Ruchi S. Gupta, lead author of a study published in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics. “It's very important that people understand that this is very real."
Eight percent of children younger than 18 suffer from allergies â€" nearly 6 million kids in the U.S. â€" and nearly 40 percent of those youngsters had suffered a severe reaction to certain foods, according to Gupta, a pediatrician and researcher at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. More than 30 percent of those children were allergic to multiple foods, the study found.
The results are based on a nationally representative sample of almost 40,000 online surveys of parents of children younger than 18. They suggest that prevalence of food allergies might be twice as high as other large recent studies have found. Although the cases were reported by the parents themselves, the questions were developed specifically for food allergies and the responses were vetted by an expert panel, Gupta said.
“If anything, our numbers are quite conservative,” said Gupta. “I think this is a good, accurate estimate.”
Peanut allergies were most common, followed by allergies to milk and to shellfish.
TODAY Moms: Living in a world of constant danger -- one mom's story of food allergies

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