7.6 Million Americans Suffer Food Allergies

TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.Approximately 2.5 percent of the U.S. population, or about 7.6 million Americans, have food allergies, with the highest rates found in children, non-Hispanic blacks and males, according to a new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Interestingly, data also revealed black male children are 4.4 times higher than others to have food allergies.

Food allergy rates were highest (4.2 percent) for children aged 1 to 5; the lowest rates (1.3 percent) were found in adults over age 60. The prevalence of peanut allergies in children aged 1 to 5 was 1.8 percent and 2.7 percent in children aged 6 to19. In adults, the rate was 0.3 percent. The odds of patients with asthma and food allergies experiencing a severe asthma attack were 6.9 times higher than those without clinically defined food allergies.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research was the first to use a nationally representative sample, as well as specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) or antibody levels to quantify allergic sensitization to common foods, including peanuts, milk, eggs and shrimp.

"This study is very comprehensive in its scope. It is the first study to use specific blood serum levels and look at food allergies across the whole life spectrum, from young children aged 1 to 5, to adults 60 and older," said Darryl Zeldin, M.D., acting clinical director at the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and senior author on the paper. "This research has helped us identify some high risk populations for food allergies."

In addition to the identification of race, ethnicity, gender, and age as risk factors for food allergies, the researchers also found an association between food allergy and severe asthma.

"This study provides further credence that food allergies may be contributing to severe asthma episodes, and suggests that people with a food allergy and asthma should closely monitor both conditions and be aware that they might be related," said Andrew Liu, M.D., of National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, and lead author on the paper.