Children's food allergies: General information and preventive measures

Unfortunately, in today's world the incidence of allergies in children is steadily increasing. How to protect your baby from food allergies, to avoid any serious consequences?

About the future health of the child is necessary to think at the stage of fetal development. The most important rule of the expectant mother diet. It is necessary to reduce consumption of citrus, fruit and vegetables red, chocolate.

As the Allergy manifests in children?

Most often the symptoms appear almost immediately after eating. When severe, even the smell of food can cause an allergic reaction.

In addition to skin manifestations (rash, hives) possible disruption of many body systems:

1) there May be changes in the cardiovascular (Tahi - or bradycardia, decrease in blood pressure) and digestive system (nausea, heartburn, vomiting, stomach heaviness, diarrhea, vomiting, flatulence, colic).

2) respiratory disorders include: rhinitis, laryngitis, bronchial asthma.

Complications of food Allergy may include: swelling Kwinke, bronhospazm, anaphylactic shock (manifested by depression of consciousness, pallor or cyanosis of the skin, shortness of breath, severe decrease in blood pressure). If time does not provide the patient, the outcome can be fatal.

How to identify allergies?

First of all, you need to identify foods with allergens. Allergist collects anamnesis, tells how to keep a food diary (to specify when, what and how much your baby ate, as well as reaction to certain types of products).

There are so-called "skin tests". On the forearm you make a little scratch and drip of different allergens. This method is used only in the period of remission on the background of a hypoallergenic diet. In the acute phase is carried out immunological tests which allow to determine specific antibodies in the blood:

1) RAST (radio-allergosorbent test).

2) ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay).

3) RIST (radioimmunosorbent test).

4) MAST (multiple chemiluminescence method).

How to prevent allergies in children?

If your child is at risk, be cautious when accepting any new food, watch for reaction. Start with small portions, gradually increasing it. If there are signs of Allergy, the product should be lifted immediately.

The basic principle of diet is to eliminate foods with high sensitizing activity (eggs, cow's milk protein, citrus). Within a month, you must keep this diet, then gradually try to introduce new foods into your baby's diet.

Any elimination diet (with the exception of foods that cause allergies) is carried out only under the supervision of a physician!