Just wondering: Why do so many kids nowadays have "nut allergies"? When I was a kid it was unheard of.

Question

We ate whatever we wanted in school when I was a kid and no one keeled over. And what will these "nut allergy" kids do once they get out in the real world and in the workplace - how can they completely avoid foods that are so common. I don't have a "nut allergy" but I'm curious why "nut allergies" seem to be so prevalent nowadays. And I've heard that peanuts are not even nuts, they are legumes, so having a peanut allergy is supposedly not a "nut allergy".

Answer 1

Allergies appear to be a dominant trait so more and more people have the allergy gene. That is why I was so careful with my daughter because both my husband and I have allergies.

I didn't even give her any solid foods before 6 months. Some doctors think allergies are increased because people feed their children solid food before it can be fully digested.

I breastfed as long as I could. Then I bought a special formula that was made of predigested milk. It smelled awful but I think it helped. I have a milk allergy myself in addition to severe pollen allergies.

My daughter is 19 and so far has NO allergies to food. Only to some soaps. She gets that from her father's mother.

Answer 2

My husband is 38 and was diagnosed with nut and shell fish allergies when he was 8. I believe that the reason so many children are developing allergies these days is our environment, diets and overuse of antibacterial products.

The air is polluted. Our diets consist of unnatural processed food. And the overuse of antibacterial products. Our bodies need to build up antibodies to bacteria. When not given this chance, we develop allergies.

Our school has a nut free policy. I thought this was ridiculous until I met my husband. His allergies alter where and what we eat, and where we can go. Just going to an amusement park poses a threat for him. If a child has eaten a peanut product and doesn't wash their hands, whatever that child touches becomes a threat to someone with the allergy.

Once he went to work, where he shared a cubicle. On the keyboard was an M&M wrapper. That basically meant that the keyboard, mouse and entire desk top was contaminated and he couldn't do his job. After that day there was a nut free policy put in place.

Answer 3

I'm 17 and expecting my first baby. I must say I got NO sex education at school what so ever. My pregnancy was unplanned, but I'm doing everything I can to make sure I have enough for the baby, I also realised I had alot of growing up to do. I'm 38 weeks and STILL at college. I will be returning after the baby is born as well (after 6 weeks). There is alot of young mums around my area. There is even a pregnant 13 year old. Kids these days know to much! I even over heard my 11 year old sister and her friend talking about sex! I couldn't believe it. I find alot of young people are far to immature about sex and don't realise the responsibilities it can bring you.

Answer 4

Read redunicorns answer. That's why we have all these allergies. I think to many people fallow"guide lines" when feeding they're kids. You have to introduce them at a young age so that enzymes can be created. And the body can learn to break down these foods. Just like germaphobe parents that try to protect they're kids from all infections are just creating weak immune systems, because the body can't create the anti bodies unless the infection has been introduced to the system. As soon as my kids were like two months they got pablum once they were like four I chewed up some of what ever I was eating and fed it to them. No allergies at all

Answer 5

We hv none. Allergies form when a body's resistance to an item is broken down.
Cristal

I'm sometimes allergic to my sister's attitude.
-Cristine

Answer 6

red unicorn has a good answer... why thumbs down?
This coupled with pollutants, chemicals and they overuse of antibacterial products hv really messed up the immune systems of these pple.

Answer 7

To be perfectly honest, I think they WERE just as common.....but many of these children died very young, from "mystery ailments", when it was likely allergy related.

Answer 8

Nut allergy is an increasingly recognised problem, particularly in children. Whilst it has been recognised for decades, it is clear that the proportion of children affected has increased dramatically in recent years. Its importance lies in the fact that on rare occasions it can kill, and that those who die from nut allergy have not necessarily had severe reactions before to warn them clearly of the danger.
Avoiding nuts is more easily said than done. In fact if you are allergic to nuts it is impossible in practice to guarantee that you will never eat anything containing nuts you are allergic to.

Fortunately there is a highly effective treatment: adrenaline. But adrenaline needs to be given as an injection or inhalation, and is dangerous if used incorrectly. If you need to have adrenaline available for yourself or someone in your family, it is important that you and anyone else who may have to give the adrenaline should be properly trained.

True food allergies are not as common as most people believe and only affect about 2% of children, although they are more common in younger children (affecting about 5-8% of younger children). And fortunately, most younger children will outgrow these food allergies by the time they are three years old.
Symptoms of a food allergy can include wheezing and difficulty breathing, itchy skin rashes, including hives, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain and swelling around his mouth and in his throat. These symptoms usually develop fairly quickly after your child ingests the food he is allergic to, often within minutes to hours. Nasal symptoms by themselves, such as congestion or a runny nose, are usually not caused by food allergies.

Symptoms may be mild or very severe, depending on how much of the food your child ingested and how allergic he is to the food. A severe reaction can include anaphylaxis, with difficulty breathing, swelling in the mouth and throat, decreased blood pressure, shock and even death.

More common than food allergies are intolerances to certain foods, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea, spitting up, and skin rashes. An example of such a reaction occurs in children with lactose intolerance, which occurs because of a deficiency of the enzyme lactase, which normally breaks down the sugar lactose. Children without this enzyme or who have a decreased amount of the enzyme, develop symptoms after drinking lactose containing food products, such as cow's milk. However, because this reaction does not involve the immune system, it is not a real food allergy.






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If you notice that your child develops symptoms after being exposed to certain foods, then you should avoid those foods. The most common foods that can cause allergies include: peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.), fish, shellfish, eggs (especially egg whites), milk, soy, and wheat. Keeping a diary for a few weeks and recording what foods your child has been eating, especially new foods, and when he develops symptoms may help figure out what he is allergic to.

Once you determine what your child is allergic to, it is important to learn to read food labels because the food your child is allergic to may be an ingredient of many other foods. You should also avoid eating foods that may have been prepared using equipment that was also used to prepare the types of food that your child is allergic to.

When trying to determine what your child is allergic to, parents often incorrectly assume that if he has eaten a food before and not had problems, then he probably is not allergic to that food. They usually only suspect new foods as being able to cause a food allergy. However, it is important to keep in mind that it takes time for the immune system to build up a reaction against something that the body is allergic to. It may take days, weeks, months or even years to build up enough of a response to cause noticeable symptoms. So your child may be allergic to a food even if he has eaten it many times before without problems.

In addition to avoiding what you think your child may be allergic to, children with more severe reactions should be evaluated by their Pediatrician or an allergist. Testing may be done, either skin testing or RAST (radioallergosorbent test, a blood test to check for antibodies against certain things your child may be allergic to) to see if specific food allergies can be found. In addition, your child will be prescribed an epinephrine autoinjection device (such as the EpiPen or EpiPen JR) and should wear a medical alert bracelet to notify others of his allergy


Preventing food allergies may be possible, especially if there is a strong family history of having allergies to foods.

Answer 9

Its because we have more technology and we can find out these Kind of things

Answer 10

Well, unfortunately my 3-y-old is allergic to peanuts (and fish.) I don't know why this is so, but my brother was also allergic to fish too....and spinach!