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What did the project achieve?
“As the rates of food allergies in children continue to climb, the findings from this study will improve understanding of how giving babies small amounts of allergenic foods early on in life affects the risk of developing allergies later in childhood,” says Professor Gideon Lack of King’s College London. “It will provide further evidence to help inform the best strategies for preventing and managing food allergies from infancy to later childhood.”
Food allergies affect between three and six of every 100 children in the developed world.1 A severe allergic reaction can be life-threatening – and so it is essential to take steps to prevent them, which can be both stressful and costly for children and their families.
The researchers previously led a groundbreaking study, called EAT (Enquiring About Tolerance) Study, which investigated whether the early introduction of six common allergenic foods – peanut, sesame, egg, milk, wheat, cod fish – into breastfed babies’ diets reduced their chances of developing food allergies by the age of three years. It found that children who had been fed these foods early had a lower risk of developing food allergy compared to those who had not.
“However, allergy continues to evolve later in childhood, with some allergies emerging and others outgrown – and so it’s important to continue to follow-up these children as they grow up to understand whether these effects are long-lasting,” says Professor Lack.
In the EAT-On Study, the researchers invited all children who participated in the original study – who were now between seven and 10 years of age – to attend a follow-up appointment. They carried out various tests to determine whether they had developed allergies to any of the six allergenic foods. Their parents also completed a detailed questionnaire and a three-day food diary to find out more about the children’s diets.
“We successfully enrolled a total of 947 children – around three-quarters of those who took part in the EAT study,” says Professor Lack. “We are now in the process of analysing the results, which will help to inform future research and could lead to worldwide alterations in weaning recommendations for preventing food allergies.”
This research was completed on
Around six per cent of children in the UK will develop food allergies.1-3 Professor Gideon Lack, of King’s College London, has previously led groundbreaking research that suggests giving babies small amounts of foods that commonly cause allergies cuts their chances of developing food allergies in the first few years of life. In this new project, Professor Lack aims to find out whether children continue to benefit in this way as they grow older. His findings could lead to new public health advice on weaning, with the aim of stopping so many children from developing food allergies.
How are children’s lives affected now?
Rates of food allergies have risen sharply over the last 20 years and no-one knows why.1 Estimates suggest that 240 – 550 million people may have a food allergy worldwide.4
Children tend to have symptoms within seconds or minutes of eating a food that they are allergic to. For example, they may develop an itchy red rash, stomach cramps, feel sick, dizzy or short of breath, and their eyes, lips tongue or mouth may swell up. A severe allergic reaction can be life-threatening.
The best way to prevent an allergic reaction is to avoid the food that causes it. “Avoiding specific foods can be both stressful and costly for families,” says Professor Lack. “Food allergies cause a lot of worry for affected families and may result unnecessarily in children missing out on parties and other social or educational activities.”
We need safe and effective ways to stop so many children from developing food allergies.
How could this research help?
The researchers’ ultimate goal is to find ways to prevent food allergies in children.
The team has already made an exciting discovery in earlier studies, while researching the effects of six foods – milk, eggs, wheat, cod, peanuts and sesame – that young children are often allergic to. “In our previous work, we found that the early introduction of specific foods, known to cause allergies, to babies’ diets was a successful strategy in the prevention of food allergies at the age of three years,” says Professor Lack. “However, our earlier work did not tell us whether this continued into later childhood.”
In this current project, the researchers aim to find out whether the benefits of introducing those foods early continue over the longer term, by studying the children again when they reach eight years of age.
“We hope our work will one day help to prevent food allergies by providing evidence on the best time to introduce six foods that commonly cause allergies into babies’ diets,” says Professor Lack.
References
1. EAT Enquiring about tolerance Welcome page http://www.eatstudy.co.uk/ Website accessed 8 February 2016.
2. Venter C, et al. Prevalence and cumulative incidence of food hyper-sensitivity in the first 10 years of life. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2016: 27; 452–8.
3. NHS Choices. Food Allergy. http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/food-allergy/Pages/Intro1.aspx Website accessed 9 January 2017.
4. World Allergy Organization (WAO). WAO White Book on Allergy. Executive Summary. http://www.worldallergy.org/UserFiles/file/ExecSummary-2013-v6-hires.pdf Website accessed 9 January 2017.
| Project Leader | Professor Gideon Lack MB MCh |
| Project Team | Dr L George Du Toit MBBCh FRCPCH |
| Project Location | Department of Paediatric Allergy, King's College London |
| Project Location Other | Children's Allergy Service, Evelina London Children's Hospital, St Thomas' Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, King's College London |
| Project duration | 3 years |
| Date awarded | 21 November 2016 |
| Project start date | 10 January 2018 |
| Project end date |
31 October 2022 |
| Grant amount | £151,338 |
| Grant code | GN2551 |
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