According to nutrition experts, more than 320,000 children born this year will develop a food allergy by the time they are 18 years old. The U.S Food & Drug Administration (FDA) explains that these allergies occur when the body’s immune system reacts to specific proteins in food. Such reactions can go from mild symptoms such as hives and lip swelling to severe and life-threatening symptoms.
The rise in food allergies has a significant impact on people’s lifestyles, requiring dietary restrictions, and at the same time, they affect finances. A 2013 JAMA study shows the cost of food allergies in children in the U.S. is likely around $25 billion per year. That’s about $4,184 per child per year.
Although there’s a lot of misconception surrounding what type of foods parents should feed their children to avoid allergies or other hypersensitivity reactions, top pediatric experts suggest parents should learn how to manage them instead of running away from them.
SpoonfulONE, the leader in early allergen feeding, created a comprehensive program to educate and grow awareness around the alarming increases in food allergy rates and highlight new infant feeding guidelines, in partnership with these esteemed pediatric experts.
According to Alok Patel, MD, Pediatric Hospitalist at Stanford, UCSF, and News Correspondent, genetics play a role in the allergy world; however, there are both sides to the story. “If you have a family history of allergies, seasonal allergies, asthma, eczema, food allergies, it can play an increased risk for a child,” Patel said. “But the important thing that people need to know is that two-thirds of kids who have an allergy do not have a parent with food allergies, and I think that‘s important because I’ve seen both ends of the spectrum.”
The physician, journalist, and producer also said that he has seen parents downplay or having heightened fear about introducing their children to early foods because of a perceived risk of a family history of allergy. “But also there’s a lifestyle and environmental factors that also play a part here,” he revealed.
Dr. Patel said that “if you have a severe issue with allergies in your family before you introduce your child to solid foods, talk to your pediatrician, speak to an allergist and just make sure that you‘re on the right path,” however, he believes that “the vast majority of the time parents are more than safe to start that early introduction of all these potentially allergenic foods.”
SpoonfulONE is a safe way to ensure the early and routine feeding of various food allergens to children until it becomes the norm. Thanks to the brand, families can protect their babies from developing an allergy by introducing their kiddos to their revolutionary, science-backed line of nutritional products that make food allergen introduction and maintenance easy and safe.