Study says food allergies do not only begin in

childhood
By The Guardian, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.23.19
Word Count 828
Level 1060L

An allergy warning notice is displayed next to food in a branch of Pret a Manger in London, England. Photo by: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty
Images

The number of adults who think they have a food allergy is almost double the number who actually
have one, research has revealed. The study was conducted in the United States. Experts say a
similar situation is seen in other countries, though, including the United Kingdom. The
researchers found that many people with an allergy do not have a doctor's note to get potentially
life-saving medication. Meanwhile, other people might be avoiding foods unnecessarily.

The study suggests almost 11 percent of adults in the United States have a food allergy. That's more
than 26 million people total. About 12 million of these are estimated to have developed the allergy
as an adult. This highlights the fact that allergies do not only begin in childhood.

Sudden Reaction To Food Tolerated Before

Ruchi Gupta is a professor of children's medicine at Northwestern University in Illinois and a co-
author of the research. "This is really concerning because chances are they could eat the food and
then all of a sudden they have a reaction to a food that they could previously tolerate," she said.
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"So what changed in their environment or in them that caused them to now develop this food
allergy?"

Gideon Lack is a professor who studies children's allergies at King's College London. He was not
involved in the research. He said the growing problem of food allergies in adults might be linked to
the dramatic rise seen in children over the past 20 years.

"We have been focusing efforts and concerns about food allergy in children, and this study is
telling us there is a very significant burden of food-allergic disease in adults," he said. "We ought
to be directing more attention and resources towards diagnosing and treating those adults."

The U.S. researchers published their study in the medical journal Jama Network Open. The
researchers describe how they conducted a survey in two groups of participants between October
2015 and September 2016. In total, more than 40,000 adults in the U.S. took part in the study.

"Convincing" Examples

Participants were asked if they had a food allergy. They were questioned about their reactions and
about whether they saw a doctor. The team then assessed whether the reported allergy, whether
examined by a doctor or not, was "convincing." For example, if the participant had experienced
symptoms such as throat tightening or vomiting, it was considered convincing.

"If they only had, say, bloating or stomach pain or diarrhea then we took them out," said Gupta.
"That could be a lactose intolerance or a food intolerance" rather than an allergy, she said.

The results reveal that the most common "convincing" allergy was to shellfish. This allergy affected
2.9 percent of adults in the study. Milk and peanuts came in second and third place, affecting 1.9
percent and 1.8 percent of adults, respectively.

In the end, 10.8 percent of participants were determined to have at least one convincing food
allergy. However, almost twice as many, 19 percent, reported having such a problem.

Many adults will have bad reactions to certain foods. However, it's hard to know whether it's an
allergic reaction without seeing a doctor, Gupta said. Without a doctor's visit, it's hard to know
whether someone has something that can be treated, such as lactose intolerance, or a life-
threatening food allergy, she said.

Of those with a "convincing" allergy, almost half said they had developed at least one of their food
allergies as an adult. About 38 percent said they had undertaken an emergency hospital visit as a
result of a food allergy. However, only 48 percent said they had a doctor identify that they had an
allergy. Just 25 percent said they had a doctor's note for adrenaline, a common allergy treatment.

Study Limitations

Professor Clare Mills is an expert in food allergies at the University of Manchester in England. She
welcomed the study but said it had limitations. For example, it relied on self-reported symptom
data instead of having professionals check the symptoms. What's more, she said, access to the
health care system in the United States is very different from the United Kingdom access to health
care. Even the way adrenaline is given out is very different.

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Stephen Till is a professor who studies allergies at King's College London. He said the prevalence
of "true" allergies seen in the study seemed surprisingly high. The widespread mistaken belief of
having an allergy matched his experience with patients in the U.K., though.

"I often see patients who think that they have a severe allergy who either aren't allergic or who
have mild allergy," he said. They may have been unnecessarily given adrenaline and be on a
restricted diet avoiding a food to which they are not actually allergic, he said. Till added that this
can cause significant anxiety and difficulties for patients.

There are not enough doctors trained in adult allergies, Till said. He said that the lack of doctors
makes these kinds of problems even worse.

The main idea is that not always you get allergies as a child, it shows that some people who think they have allergies just
have food intolerance. Allergies can begin even as you're an adult, because most adults that used to tolerate the food or
whatever it is.

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Quiz

1 Which two of the following sentences from the article include CENTRAL ideas of the article?

1. The number of adults who think they have a food allergy is almost double the number who
actually have one, research has revealed.
2. "We ought to be directing more attention and resources towards diagnosing and treating
those adults."
3. The results reveal that the most common "convincing" allergy was to shellfish.
4. What's more, she said, access to the health care system in the United States is very
different from the United Kingdom access to health care.

(A) 1 and 2

(B) 2 and 3

(C) 1 and 4

(D) 3 and 4

2 Which statement would be MOST important to include in a summary of the article?

(A) Researchers conducted a survey from October 2015 to September 2016.

(B) Milk and peanuts are the second and third most common adult allergies.

(C) Adults who think they have developed a food allergy should see a doctor.

(D) Changes in people's environment can cause them to develop an allergy.

3 Read the paragraph from the section "Sudden Reaction To Food Tolerated Before."

Gideon Lack is a professor who studies children's allergies at King's College London. He was not
involved in the research. He said the growing problem of food allergies in adults might be linked
to the dramatic rise seen in children over the past 20 years.

Which word from the paragraph helps you understand that the increase in child allergies was sudden and surprising?

(A) professor

(B) problem

(C) linked

(D) dramatic

4 Read the paragraph from the section "Convincing Examples."

Participants were asked if they had a food allergy. They were questioned about their reactions
and about whether they saw a doctor. The team then assessed whether the reported allergy,
whether examined by a doctor or not, was "convincing." For example, if the participant had
experienced symptoms such as throat tightening or vomiting, it was considered convincing.

What is the BEST definition of the word "convincing" as it is used in the paragraph above?

(A) powerful

(B) probable

(C) impressive

(D) influential

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