Background: Food allergies are the most common cause of anaphylaxis in children, and their incidence is increasing globally. The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors leading to food allergies in childhood.
Methods: Children with food allergies and non-atopic healthy children were compared using a questionnaire that included prenatal, neonatal, and postnatal risk factors.
Results: A total of 314 subjects, 155 patients and 159 healthy children for the control group, were enrolled in the study. The median age of patients with a food allergy at diagnosis was 6 months (1-156 months), and 71 patients (45.8%) were males. The median age of the control group was 12 months (1-61 months), and 67.0% were males. Older maternal age (P = 0.023), birth by caesarean section (P = 0.001), birth in the summer or autumn (P = 0.011), crowded housing (P = 0.001), damp houses (P = 0.001), being fed with breast milk and complementary food (P = 0.001), use of synthetic bedding (P = 0.024), and being the oldest child in the family (P = 0.001) were the considered risk factors for an immunoglobulin-E (IgE)-mediated food allergy. A low frequency of yoghurt consumption by mother (P = 0.001) and use of wool bedding (P = 0.018) were identified as risk factors for non-IgE-mediated food allergies. Low socioeconomic status (P = 0.001) played a protective role against both IgE- and non-IgE-mediated food allergies whereas breastfeeding played a protective role against IgE-mediated food allergies (P = 0.030).
Conclusion: The most important aspect of this study was that it separately identified prenatal, neonatal, and postnatal risk factors for IgE- and non-IgE-mediated food allergies.
Keywords: Food allergy; anaphylaxis; childhood; children; risk factors.