Food allergiesoccur when the body mistakenly identifies a food as a threat, triggering an immune system response.
This article highlights important facts and statistics you should know about food allergies.
At this time, there is no cure for food allergies.
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The best way to manage the condition is by avoiding the food causing the allergy.
What Is Anaphylaxis?
Anaphylaxis is a severe, life-threatening reaction that can happen within minutes of exposure to a trigger food.
Symptoms include trouble swallowing, vomiting, diarrhea, and difficulty breathing.
How Common Are Food Allergies?
Food allergies affect 1 in 13 children and 1 in 10 adults.
Around 32 million people in the United States have a food allergy.
Over the past two decades, food allergies have increased, notably among children.
Research shows that the prevalence offood allergies in childrenhas increased by 1% to 2% per decade.
Black children are two times more likely than White children to have more than one food allergy.
Black children also have significantly higher rates offish allergiesandshellfish allergiesthan White children.
Hispanic and Black children have higher rates of diet-induced anaphylaxis and emergency room visits than White children.
This suggests these populations may experience more severe reactions compared to other ethnic groups.
In children under 18, boys are more likely to be diagnosed with food allergies than girls.
However, the opposite is true for adultsfemales over 18 are more likely to be affected by food allergies.
Different food allergies are associated with different ages.Milk allergiesare common in children, followed byeggandpeanut allergies.
Between 1997 and 2008, peanut andtree nut allergiesmore than tripled among children in the United States.
These antibodies travel to cells where chemicals are released, triggering an allergic reaction.
Although life-threatening and fatal reactions can occur from exposure to food allergens, it is rare.
According to one study, less than 1 out of 100,000 people will die from a food allergy.
Not treating anaphylaxis quickly withepinephrinecan increase the risk of mortality.
This is because there is a high risk of false-positive results.
Summary
About 32 million people in the United States have food allergies.
The best way to prevent life-threatening reactions is by avoiding trigger foods.
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