Prevalence of food allergy in children under 3 years of age in Panzhihua city

Objective To examine the prevalence of food allergy in the children under 3 years of age in Panzhihua city.Methods From January 2010 to December 2012,with stratified cluster random sampling,1 387 children aged 0-3 years in three districts of Panzhihua city were selected and asked to take a questionnaire survey completed by their parents and a routine health examination and skin prick test(SPT).Based on the results of SPT and medical history,the children with suspected food allergy were tested with food elimination(FE)and oral food challenge(OFC)under medical supervision.Food allergy was confirmed by the oral food challenge test.The 9 kinds food for SPT were egg,cow's milk,fish,shrimp,orange,walnut,soybean,peanut,and wheat.Results Totally 1 359 children completed the diagnostic procedure and 103(7.58%)children were confirmed with food allergy.Egg(4.12%)was the most common allergen,followed by cow's milk(2.43%),fish(1.77%),shrimp(0.74%),peanut(0.22%),walnut(0.22%),and orange(0.22%).The rate of food allergy induced by one kind food was 70.87%,that of by two kinds food was 26.22%,and that of by more kinds food was 2.91% among the children with food allergy.The most clinical situation of OFC was skin symptoms.Conclusion The prevalence of food allergy in 0-3 years old children in Panzhihua city was 7.58%.Egg is the most common allergen,followed by cow's milk,fish and shrimp.Food allergy in children is often induced by one kind food.Skin symptoms is the most clinical feature of OFC.