Four out of every 100 children have a food allergy

 

The National Center of Health Statistics which is part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study of food allergies in children.  The highlights of the study are:

• In 2007, approximately 3 million children under age 18 years (3.9%) were reported to have a food  or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months.
• From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18% among children under age 18 years.
• Children with food allergy are two to four times more likely to have other related conditions such as asthma and other allergies, compared with children without food allergies.
• From 2004 to 2006, there were approximately 9,500 hospital discharges per year with a diagnosis related to food allergy among children under age 18 years.

You can find the entire report at their website.  I hope that this will lead to more funding of autoimmune disease research.  After all allergies are a result of our bodies autoimmune system being out of wack (a technical term ).  

 

While I am on the subject of autoimmune disease, I highly recommend the book pictured. This is one of those books that I had a very difficult time setting down.  The author has a personal connection with the issue and as a reporter, she knows how to research a topic.  This combination makes for a great book, IMHO. 

You can click on the image to purchase the book from Amazon.com

You can find more information about the author at her website.