SURAKSHIT KHADYA ABHIYAN

Is Your Child a Victim of Food Allergy?

Does your child encounter frequent episodes of diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach ache, rashes, runny nose, itchy eyes, swelling in mouth areas, and shortness of breath? If yes, your child could be a victim of food allergy. Food allergy is an abnormal immune response towards a particular food item as if it’s a foreign object and develops reactions toward it. Learning about this condition and its symptoms will help you work with your child on a long-term solution.

Food allergies must not be confused with food intolerance. A food allergy triggers an immune-system response; food intolerance does not. Intolerance is the consequence of an enzyme deficiency in an individual. An allergic reaction to a food item could be severe or even life-threatening; food-intolerance symptoms are generally rarely life threatening but could lead to severe digestive problems such as diarrhoea, malabsorption, colon cancer, or malnutrition.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

If the child develops symptoms after consumption of a particular food, then the child could be allergic to that food. The child could be allergic to the food additives as well, so one must watch whether the child develops any symptom after consumption of packet food only. Development and severity of allergy symptoms also depends on the amount of the food ingested.

Symptoms include vomiting and/or stomach cramps, hives, shortness of breath, dizziness, wheezing, repetitive cough, shock or circulatory collapse, trouble swallowing, swelling of the tongue, weak pulse, and pale or blue colouring of skin. Food allergy reactions can vary from person to person. Some can be very mild and only involve one part of the body, like hives on the skin. Others can be more severe and involve more than one part of the body. Reactions can happen