Food allergies more common, says CDC
October 23, 2008
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a new report out on food allergies. As everyone suspects, these have become more common in the last 10 years, especially among kids with asthma. But the increase is really quite small and much smaller than I suspected. The one big change is in the rate of hospitalizations; these have more than doubled. Why? What’s really depressing is that nobody really knows. I have argued for years that we need more research on food allergies. With a food supply as complicated as ours, having one is no joke.
Doctors (and hospitals) make more money if a kid is hospitalized; what exactly discourages them from doing this? They play on the parent’s fears and voila! Ka-Ching!
- Jaded in the Land of Greed
Comment by Jack — October 23, 2008 @ 10:58 am
I don’t necessarily agree with Jack. Here in Canada, hospitalizing a patient for food allergies affects the taxpayers - hospitals do whatever they can to send patients home asap.
I think allergies are getting worse. Why? Oversaturation of our systems. We’re exposed to so much pollution and so many chemicals every day, from cosmetics and perfume to cleaning products and smog. My own food allergies were accompanied by multiple chemical sensitivity.
The worst thing about food allergies is that there is no treatment. More research would definitely be a step in the right direction.
Comment by Sheryl — October 24, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
[…] Food allergies are becoming more prevalent, and are requiring longer hospital stays. […]
Pingback by Taste T.O. - Food & Drink In Toronto » Food For Thought - Friday, October 24th — October 24, 2008 @ 7:03 pm
Last year, in July, there was a WSJ article that stated “The National Institutes of Health has called food allergies an emerging public health problem in the U.S. due to a rising incidence of serious allergic reactions to food products. ”
I tried to find any statement actually coming from the NIH about this and couldn’t find anything.
Comment by Renata — November 1, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Three thoughts, tangentially related.
Today’s yuppiefied overly protective parents are more vigilant and are reporting a greater percent of actual cases.
Today’s yuppiefied overly protective parents are overrreacting to every media report of a potential allergy.
People today have food allergies today the way that Parisians had tuberculosis in the 19th century as a proof of their artist temperment. All of my last girlfriend’s friends and her dog had food sensitivities that were accompanied by the approving observation, “She’s very sensitive.” The sensitivity was a given. The variable was the object of the sensitivity.
Many people today are convinced they have lactose intolerance and can’t eat cheese. Cheese doesn’t have lactose. They may have a dairy sensitivity but they aren’t lactose intolerant.
The fact that this study is about kids gives me pause, but I wonder about the effects of over nervous parents.
On the other hand I think a lot of the new allergies are driven by our toxic food environment. Too much processed food is causing new food allergies. (my guess. no data.)
Comment by Marc Brazeau — November 26, 2008 @ 2:32 am
Marc, your comment is probably the most insightful post I’ve read in a long time. I agree with your assessment 100%.
Comment by tyrroneus — November 28, 2008 @ 7:20 pm