Allergies & Children
Allergies in children can cause significant discomfort, disrupt sleep, affect behaviour, impair learning, compromise nutrition and impede healthy development. Severe allergic reactions can be fatal, and require careful management in the family and community.
Many parents are justifiably concerned that their child could be suffering from an allergy, intolerance or sensitivity. Allergy has emerged as a major health problem in Australia in recent years—particularly for children and young adults.
More and more children are presenting with symptoms that suggest an allergy, intolerance or sensitivity:
- asthma/wheezy breathing
- hay fever
Some telling statistics:
- Around one in 20 Australian children will suffer from a transient food allergy.
- Peanut allergy in infants in Australia has doubled over the past five years. Today, more than 3% of Australian children will be allergic to peanuts, and close to 4% allergic to tree nuts.
- Hospitalisation for severe food allergy (anaphylaxis) in young children in Australia has increased fivefold over the past decade.
- The demand for hypoallergenic infant formula is steadily increasing.
- Four of the ten most common chronic illnesses in Australians aged 12 to 24 years are allergic rhinitis (hay fever), asthma, chronic sinusitis and undefined allergy.
- More than 20% of Australian adolescents have asthma-like symptoms—compared with less than 5% in Eastern Europe and some Asian and African countries.
- Eczema in Australian children has increased from 3% to more than 20% in the past generation. A significant number of kids with eczema will have allergies; the more severe the eczema, the more likely allergies are involved.
Allergies may first present in infancy and continue to progress and evolve throughout childhood and adolescence.
Eczema and food allergy are the most prevalent in the first years of life, while allergic rhinitis and asthma often follow in later years. Symptoms often overlap.
This progression of allergies is known as the atopic or allergic march.
Around half our patients at Allergy Medical are infants and children
We care for babies as young as one month of age. We provide the diagnosis, education and support to give parents the clarity and confidence to successfully care for children with allergies—from food allergies to eczema.
To see how we could help you and your child, just ask us.
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