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Food allergies in children
Last reviewed: 08.07.2025
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Food allergies in children, as well as in adults, have a long history. As early as the 2nd century AD, one of the founders of medicine, the ancient philosopher and physician Claudius Galen described cases of food allergies and called these phenomena idiosyncrasies. Treatment methods have changed dramatically since then, but the causes have remained the same. This is an aggressive response of the immune system to the invasion of a food allergen. A more specific and statistically confirmed explanation appeared much later, as did the identification of provocateurs of allergic food reactions.
Read also: Food allergies in adults
Unfortunately, food allergies in children are still very common and are rarely diagnosed in a timely manner. Patients often turn to allergists when the allergy, including food allergies, has already acquired an acute, threatening form, which means it becomes polymorphic – it affects multiple systems and organs. Perhaps this is the reason for the general trend in the development of allergies throughout the world. Regardless of the efforts of medical luminaries, allergies continue to affect an increasing number of people, among whom children occupy a leading place. Due to the fact that the child's body develops protective functions gradually, babies from one to three years old are especially vulnerable.
Any atypical reactions to products are conventionally divided into non-toxic and clearly toxic. Non-toxic does not mean harmless, these reactions directly depend on the mechanisms of development and can be immune and have no relation to the immune system, for example, in the case of fermentopathy (enzyme deficiency). In general, food allergies are very characterized by clinical signs of damage to the digestive system, skin, respiratory and nervous systems.
[ How does food allergy manifest itself in children?
Any product that a person consumes can become an allergen, especially for a small child. What are the clinical manifestations of food intolerance, and how to recognize them? The manifestation of symptoms can be obvious and hidden, delayed.
Food allergy in children with obvious symptoms:
- Gastrointestinal symptoms in children are provoked by cow's milk, soy products, fish, eggs, legumes and citrus fruits. Often allergens overlap, such allergy is called cross-allergy. Symptoms - vomiting, bowel disorder, enteritis, colic in the epigastric region.
- Dermal signs of food allergy – urticaria (hives) up to Quincke's edema, eczema, hemorrhagic vasculitis (inflammation of the walls of blood vessels), diathesis.
- Respiratory manifestations – allergic rhinitis, coughing and sneezing, atypical for acute respiratory viral infections, bronchial asthma.
- Symptoms from the circulatory system – anaphylactic shock (rare, no more than 3%).
Food allergies in children, manifested by controversial symptoms:
- Ulcerative colitis;
- Nephropathologies;
- Urination disorder, enuresis;
- Inflammation of the joints, arthritis;
- Interstitial pneumonia (viral, bacterial etiology);
- Thrombocypenia;
- Hyperkinetic disorders.
How are food allergies recognized in children?
In all cases of controversial symptoms, additional diagnostics should be carried out and the development of a disease with manifestations similar to allergies should be excluded. Food allergies in children are diagnosed in a comprehensive manner. The first stage is a conversation with parents and anamnesis, including hereditary. It is possible that the child suffers from food allergies due to a genetic predisposition. It will be mandatory to keep a food diary - a food diary. This will take from two weeks to a month. Parents must keep a so-called food diary for a certain period of time - usually two weeks. The diary contains entries about the menu, diet and the child's reaction to foods. At the same time, laboratory tests will be prescribed, this can be an immunological analysis of blood serum or a skin test. A skin test is not performed on children under five years of age. The type and specifics of the tests are determined by an allergist depending on the individual characteristics of the child and the clinical manifestations of the allergy.
Food allergies in children and dietary treatment
Therapy for food allergies is, first of all, identifying the product that causes the reaction, excluding it from the menu and following a special diet. Even for newborns who are bottle-fed, the modern food industry today can offer hypoallergenic mixtures that are absolutely safe for the body. For older children, the choice of dietary products is much wider and stopping allergies with the help of competent, reasonable nutrition is quite possible.