Hypersensitivity to foods

The faster the reaction will be after food intake, the more likely it is that the consumer suffers from an allergy.

Incidence

Oversensitivity is most common in infancy. Perhaps 20 per cent of all children aged between zero and three years have some kind of unexpected reactions to food or drink. Most of them are mild and the child can often withstand the same basic food a few months later. Approximately 8 per cent of the six-year-olds have some form of hypersensitivity, as well as about 15 per cent of adults.

Egg and milk allergy are very common during the first two years of life. These allergies often disappear during the preschool age. Other early and more persistent allergies would be peanut allergies and allergies to soy and fish. Children with eczema may find it difficult to tolerate red, orange and yellow foods, such as berries, fruits (citrus fruits, strawberries), vegetables or juice, but the cause is often not an allergy but the fact that they contain irritants.

Later, people with pollen allergy have allergies to nuts, apples, seafood, cherries and celery.

Food Intolerance Symptoms 

Lips, mouth, throat: allergic symptoms with itching and swelling (especially common if one also has birch pollen allergy)
Gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, stretched stomach.
Skin: hives or fluid swelling (edema).
Respiratory tract: runny nose, nasal congestion, eye irritation, asthma.

In people with migraines, certain foods (chocolate, red wine, strong cheese) can trigger headaches. This has however not been encountered with conventional allergies.

Investigation

Following the skin prick test (read more about it during pollen left) or blood test can be an elimination / challenge: It excludes the most common allergenic foodstuffs from the child's diet for at least two weeks. Then let the child try a food at a time over a fairly long period of time, consulting with a dietician.

Treatments

The only safe method is to completely avoid the foods that you react to. If the allergy is mild and causes trouble quite quickly after eating or drinking, it can temporarily provide substances such as antihistamine. If you have a severe food allergy, you should always carry emergency medication with you in case you accidentally ingest a substance you cannot tolerate. Regular contact with the dietitian and physician is important, so that you can know if the allergy subsided, which is not uncommon in children.

Avoiding food intolerances

Breastfeeding for at least four months leads to some protection against respiratory illnesses and allergy to cow's milk during the first year of life. Postponing the introduction of other diets has not been convincingly shown to protect one against allergic reactions.

Celiac disease, Celiac disease (gluten allergy)

Celiac disease is a specific hypersensitivity disease. It affects nearly 0.4 per cent of babies. It is often noted when the child passes from breast milk to baby formula containing gluten (the disease is also known as celiac disease or gluten intolerance).

Gluten is a protein found in common grains and it can damage the lining of the intestine, so that the nutritional process deteriorates. The child becomes awkward, they get loose or hard stools or they lose weight. (An adult can have vague symptoms such as fatigue, various gastrointestinal disorders and anemia).

Celiac disease is detected in blood samples and samples from the intestinal mucosa. The treatment consists in adherence to strict gluten-free diets. The diagnosis is established after a dietitian at the child health center or the pediatric clinic gives you dietary information. You can also get special gluten-free foods printed on the prescription.

Cow's milk allergy

Cow's milk allergy is most common in infants and young children. Colics can be a sign of this (but may also have completely different reasons!). When your child suffers from cow's milk allergy, you often need to exclude all dairy products from their diet. An allergic child can react to very small amounts of a particular substance. A dietitian at the BVC helps with dietary advice. NOTE: Cow's milk allergy should not be confused with lactose intolerance, which is not an allergy and does not cause trouble in moderate milk intake.