Pediatricians and allergists warn that new diagnoses are increasing among minors, with an annual growth of close to 5%
Food allergies in children are a growing problem that pediatricians and allergists come in consultation more and more frequently. In the Region of Murcia cases grow by around 5% each year in minorswhile the increase in adults is even greater, according to what Dr. Inmaculada Sánchez-Guerrero, president of the Alergomurcia association, explains to La Opinión.
Behind this health problem they point to climate change and the new production modelssuch as intensive agriculture, “which does not allow plants to grow naturally.”
About the increase in food allergies in children It has been debated this Friday during the 69th Congress of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), where it has been highlighted that these increase at a national level by around 2%, somewhat less than what allergists in the Region of Murcia register. , who estimate it at 5%. To this are added the figures handled by the Spanish Society of Clinical Immunology, Allergology and Pediatric Asthma (Seicap) and the World Allergy Organization, which estimate that in developed countries one in ten children has an allergy of this type.
The doctor Laura Valdesoiro Navarretecoordinator of the Food Allergy working group of the seicaphas explained in one of the workshops of this congress that this increase in cases is due, on the one hand, to the improvement in diagnoses and, on the other, to the characteristics of our environment.
“The factors to stimulate the plants are seen by them as a threat and they defend themselves”
“This increase in allergies is multifactorial and there are several hypotheses to explain it: on the one hand, there is the hygienist who defends that the reduction of microbial contact at an early age causes allergic diseases to increase. And then there are those who maintain that it is the opposite, that more allergies develop due to exposure to environmental contaminants and food additives,” says Valdesoiro Navarrete.
The Murcian allergist agrees on this last point Sanchez-Guerrerowho states that food allergies are increasing in frequency and severity and that in the case of adults allergies to plant foods are growing.
«The way of cultivating is changing due to the desire to produce more and more, which means that factors are used to stimulate the plants and not let them grow naturally with the time they need,” he says.
Allergies to fruits and nuts are the most common and, above all, to LPP protein (lipid-binding protein). This protein is produced by plants as a way of defending themselves from external factors when they feel attacked and “the maneuvers carried out to force the growth of the plants make them perceive it as a threat and try to defend themselves by producing more protein, which that increases food allergies”, explains the president of allergomurcia.
Prevention
In any case, pediatric allergists maintain that the key is prevention. And one of the strategies is to introduce potentially allergenic foodss early in the diet, even before 6 months of life (4-6 months), always maintaining breastfeeding as long as possible.
«There is no need to be afraid of introducing into the diet of children foods with a reputation for produce allergies, If not the opposite. And in allergic children with greater reason. The smaller you are, the more moldable your immune system is and it has more adaptability and, if we introduce all kinds of food early, we will be preventing new food allergies from developing”, warns Dr. Valdesoiro Navarrete. While she maintains that “although to have an allergy you have to be genetically predisposed, we can favor or avoid its appearance.”
About the age at which food is introduced, Immaculate Sanchez-Guerrero points out that approaches have changed in recent years and she is in favor of waiting for sufficient scientific evidence.
Molecular diagnosis allows not to eliminate products from the diet
Until a decade ago, being diagnosed in childhood with a food allergy It meant not being able to eat the food in question again. Today, thanks to new advances in molecular diagnostics, having a food allergy does not necessarily imply strict avoidance.
«Molecular diagnosis allows us to know which are the specific proteins in food that produce a reaction and, since some of these proteins are modified by heatit is likely that you can tolerate this food in some form of preparation, such as baked with flour, “explains Dr. Laura Valdesoiro Navarrete from the Pediatric Allergy and Pneumology Unit of the Parc Taulí University Hospital in Sabadell and coordinator of the Allergy work group a Alimentos of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Immunology, Allergology and Asthma (Seicap), which addresses this issue together with Dr. Celia Pinto Fernández in a workshop at the 69th AEP Congress.
The two foods that most frequently cause allergies in children are milk and egg.
«In the egg, for example, we found the ovomucoid and ovalbumin; It is very important to know which of these two proteins you have an allergy to in order to know if you can consume the food in some form or not. A child with an allergy to ovomucoid will probably not tolerate eggs in any case because this protein is resistant to heat. However, a child with an allergy to ovalbumin can eat eggs if they are cooked or baked with flour. We should always check it, previously, with a controlled exposure in the hospital”, points out Dr. Valdesoiro Navarrete.
In nuts, for example, there are proteins shared by all the nuts and others that are specific to one in particular; Knowing exactly which is the one that produces a reaction and in which fruits it is present will mean that you do not have to avoid eating all of them.
However, when a food allergy test comes out positive, it is very important to keep in mind that it does not always mean that you are allergic to that food; You have to test it thoroughly to be sure.
“It’s important not underdiagnose to the children but neither overdiagnose and ban food lightly. We should not be strict with food restrictions, if not adapt the diet to the characteristics of the patient. It is not enough to say that you are allergic to milk; We will have to see what molecular profile you have to know if you have to have a strict avoidance of food or if you can consume it in some way, “stresses the expert.