Black Male Children Have Highest Rates of Food Allergies

Children, males and blacks have the highest rates of food allergies in the United States, and the risk is 4.4 times higher among male black children than in the general population, a new study finds.

{snip} The participants had their blood tested for antibodies to four specific foods: peanuts, milk, eggs and shrimp.

{snip} Compared to the general population, food allergies were two times more common among children aged 1 to 19, three times more common among blacks and two times more common among males.

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The study, which appears in the November issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

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The authors comment in the paper that food allergies may be under-recognized in blacks, males and children, because previous studies relied on self-reporting.

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