Will My Food-Allergic Child Develop Seasonal Allergies Or Asthma?

Question: Will my food-allergic child develop seasonal allergies or asthma?

Answer: There are several allergic conditions that tend to travel in the same circles, tend to occur in the same children.

So those four conditions are eczema, food allergy, hay fever and asthma. And if you take children who begin with food allergy, which is usually the first allergic condition to show up, a majority of them will go on to develop some other form of allergy.

When you take all children with food allergy, it turns out that at least 80 percent will go on to develop hay fever and at least 50 percent will go on to develop asthma. The respiratory allergies like hay fever, allergic rhinitis and asthma tend to have a much more gradual onset. So whereas food allergy usually has its onset in the first year or two of life, these don't typically show up until your three, four, five or six years old.

So as we're monitoring food allergic children, we're always on the lookout for signs of these other allergies, particularly as they're in their late toddler and preschool age years.

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