Studies See Rise in Children’s Nut Allergies

Nut and peanut allergies may be getting more common in children, doubling over the last five years in the United States, researchers reported Tuesday.

Canadian researchers said they also were seeing many more cases of peanut allergy.

Two reports published in the December issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology suggest that peanut and tree nut allergies, which can be deadly, will continue to become more common.

“This study confirms what we’ve been hearing from growing numbers of families, school administrators and other institutional leaders -- food allergy is increasing,” said Anne Munoz-Furlong, founder and chief executive officer of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.

“This is a public health and food-safety issue that affects all of us,” she said.

Peanut allergies affect an estimated 1.5 million Americans, and 200 people die every year from severe allergic reactions, called anaphylactic reactions, to peanuts.

The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology says there could be several reasons that peanut allergy is becoming more common.

Roasting peanuts can make them more likely to cause an immune reaction, more children may be eating peanuts when their immune systems are immature and more skin ointments contain nut products.

Allergies to peanuts or any other food occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly sees compounds from the foods as invaders and creates antibodies to fight them.

In 1997, Dr. Scott Sicherer and Dr. Hugh Sampson of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York found that about 1.4% of all Americans had an allergy to tree nuts or peanuts.

In 2002, they surveyed 4,855 households representing 13,493 people by telephone, asking them for information about peanut and tree nut allergies.

Many more reported their children were allergic to nuts.