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Malnutrition in children with food allergies in the UK
Author(s) -
Meyer R.,
De Koker C.,
Dziubak R.,
Venter C.,
DominguezOrtega G.,
Cutts R.,
Yerlett N.,
Skrapak A.K.,
Fox A. T.,
Shah N.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of human nutrition and dietetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1365-277X
pISSN - 0952-3871
DOI - 10.1111/jhn.12149
Subject(s) - medicine , underweight , malnutrition , allergy , obesity , food allergy , population , anthropometry , pediatrics , standard score , environmental health , food group , overweight , immunology , machine learning , computer science
Background The mainstay of dietary management of food allergies remains the elimination diet. However, the removal of major food groups may predispose children to an inadequate nutrient intake. We therefore set out to establish growth status in food allergic children receiving dietetic input in the UK . Methods Dietitians were approached via the F ood A llergy and I ntolerance S pecialist G roup from the B ritish D ietetic A ssociation and asked to submit anthropometrical data for children with food allergies. Data collected related to the systems involved and number of foods excluded. Malnutrition was defined according to W orld H ealth O rganization standards. Results Data from 13 different centres yielded 97 patients (51 male and 46 female) of which 66 excluded ≤2 foods and 31 excluded ≥3 foods. Data indicated that 8.5% had a weight for age ≤ −2 Z ‐score and, conversely, 8.5% were ≥2 Z ‐score. For height for age, 11.1% were ≤ −2 Z ‐score and, for weight for height, 3.7% were ≤ −2 Z ‐score and 7.5% ≥2 Z ‐score. Type of allergy, system involved and specific food elimination did not impact on the level of malnutrition. However, the elimination of ≥3 foods significantly impacted on weight for age ( P = 0.044). Conclusions The present study demonstrates that children with food allergies are more underweight than the general UK population, which appears to be linked to the number of foods excluded. However, the impact of the disease process itself should not be disregarded. Additionally, obesity can also occur in this population despite dietary elimination.