Food Allergies Affect Nearly 6 Million U.S. Children, Study Suggests

Food allergies among U.S. children may be more common than previously thought.

According to a recent study, led by researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, about 8 percent of U.S. children could be afflicted with food allergies.

In what was possibly the largest study of its kind, parents of more than 38,000 children answered an online questionnaire about whether their child had been diagnosed with a food allergy and about the symptoms associated with it.

The survey found out that an estimated six million children in the U.S. could be suffering from food allergies.

Food allergies are different from food intolerance, a condition associated with digestion and metabolism and which does not involve immune system.

“Sometimes when people think of food [allergies], they think of rash or stomach ache. What I don’t think people understand is that it can be life-threatening,” said Dr. Ruchi Gupta, the lead author of the study.

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Organizing a support group for parents of children who have food allergies is one way churches can minister to these children and their families.