Food allergies became personal for me when I discovered my daughter had a severe peanut allergy that sent her straight to the ER. Never in a million years would I have thought one of my children would have a nut allergy because there is no history of it on either side of our families. Sadly, I’m hearing the same story everywhere I turn, “my son/daughter has a food allergy, but it doesn’t run in our families.”

Since May 10-16, 2015 is Food Allergy Awareness Week, I thought I’d share some interesting facts and statistics about the prevalence of food allergies in our society today…

Food-Allergies-in-US-Infographic

Here are some other little known facts about food allergies:

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  • A food allergy is an immune system response to a food the body mistakenly believes is harmful.
  • Anaphylaxis is a serious allergic reaction that comes on quickly, has the potential to become life threatening, and can cause death.
  • 8 foods account for 90% of all food allergy reactions – Peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish.
  • The FDA requires the Top 8 food allergens in the U.S. to be declared by common name on food labels.
  • Food allergies affect up to 15 million Americans, including ~6 million children.
  • Food allergies affect 1 in 13 children under the age of 18.  That comes out to roughly every two children per classroom.
  • Nearly 40 percent of these children have already experienced a serious or life-threatening reaction.
  • More than 30 percent of these 6 million children have multiple food allergies.
  • Having a child with food allergies increases the yearly cost of raising a child by ~30 percent.
  • Children with food allergies are 2-4 times more likely to have asthma or other allergic conditions than those without food allergies.
  • Antihistamines will not stop anaphylaxis. The first line of treatment for a severe allergic reaction is epinephrine.  Immediately call 9-1-1 if your child is anaphylactic.
  • Unfortunately, there is no cure for food allergies yet.

You can learn more about food allergies at foodallergy.org and kidswithfoodallergies.org. The CDC is also a great resource.

Food allergies are on the rise today, and the more awareness we raise around how big of an issue this is, and how many of our children are impacted by this… the more we can invoke positive change in the way food allergies are addressed in schools, supermarkets, restaurants, airplanes, and more.

Do you have a child with a food allergy?