A forthcoming study in Clinical Pediatrics has revealed that children living in urban centres are twice as likely to have peanut and shellfish allergies than those living in the sticks. It's the first study of its kind to hone in on geographical differences when it comes to allergy incidence.
"We have found for the first time that higher population density corresponds with a greater likelihood of food allergies in children," said lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a physician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "This shows that environment has an impact on developing food allergies. Similar trends have been seen for related conditions like asthma. The big question is—what in the environment is triggering them? A better understanding of environmental factors will help us with prevention efforts."
Of the almost 40,000 children under the age of 18 studied, 9.8 per cent of those living in urban centres had food allergies, compared to 6.2 percent in rural communities, though 40 per cent of the allergic children in either location had experienced severe, life-threatening reactions to food. The incidence was doubled for reactions to shellfish and peanuts.
Food allergy is a serious and growing health problem, both here and in the U.S. where an estimated 5.9 million children—or one out of every 13 children—now has some kind of life-threatening food allergy.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, every three minutes someone is rushed to an emergency room due to a food reaction.
Children in urban centres have also been found to have a higher incidence of asthma, eczema, allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis than those in rural ones. Researchers suspect that early exposure to certain bacteria in rural areas may actually protect against hereditary hypersensitivity to some allergens. Just as pollutants in urban areas may trigger allergies.
Would you ever consider becoming a country bumpkin to improve your health or your children's health?
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