Food allergy in nursery children of Kawasaki city, Japan

Abstract

Background: Food allergies are often life threatening. In order to establish appropriate food allergy measures in nursery children, it is important to analyze local epidemiological data on the food allergy prevalence in nursery children. However, no such data are currently available for the city of Kawasaki, Japan.Objective: The present study retrospectively evaluated food allergy prevalence among nursery children in Kawasaki city.Methods: Data from children with food allergies requiring food avoidance in the nurseries of Kawasaki city between 2007 and 2016 were evaluated.Results: From 2007 to 2016, the prevalence of food allergies among nursery children in Kawasaki city increased from 2.7% to 5.3%. The increase of food allergy prevalence was higher in 2-5 year-old children than in 0-1 year-old children (2.0% to 4.7% vs. 5.3% to 7.0%, respectively). The top five most common food allergies were hen's egg (73.0%), cow's milk (29.3%), nuts (9.7%), soy (8.9%), and wheat (6.5%). Hen's egg was consistently identified as a causative food of food allergy in more than 70% (73.0-89.1%) of food avoidance cases over the 10 year period. The increase of egg allergy prevalence was higher in 2-5 year-old children than in 0-1 year-old children (1.7% to 3.2% vs. 5.2% to 6.0%, respectively).Conclusions: Food allergies, to hen's egg in particular, have increased considerably among nursery children in the city of Kawasaki, Japan, and that increase was higher among older children.

Measures for food allergy emergency in nurseries

“…Thus, as food allergy emergency in children potentially can lead serious problems at nurseries [ 5 ], Kawasaki city office has been setting several kinds of preventive measures for food allergy emergency, including the registration of children with food allergy, elimination diets, the instruction of epinephrine auto-injection kit and the preparation of emergency manuals. According to the registration of food allergy, high percentage of nurseries in Kawasaki city has cared for food allergy children [ 2 ]. According to the increase of allergy children, introducing certifications about allergy by medical doctors are essential in nurseries in order to pick up allergic children at risk [ 2 6 ].…”

“…According to the registration of food allergy, high percentage of nurseries in Kawasaki city has cared for food allergy children [ 2 ]. According to the increase of allergy children, introducing certifications about allergy by medical doctors are essential in nurseries in order to pick up allergic children at risk [ 2 6 ]. In this study, only 4 cases of anaphylaxis have been reported for a 1 year, while many children with food allergy have been in nurseries.…”

“…The Department of Nursery Health Administration in Kawasaki Branch of Japan Medical Association and The Department of Nursery Administration in Kawasaki city office have been constituting the committee of nursery health administration in Kawasaki city, which has been managing all health issues including food allergy in the authorized nurseries since 1995. In terms of the food allergy management, the committee has been surveying the number of food allergy children with elimination diets and children who have been instructed to use adrenaline auto-injector in nurseries every year [ 2 ]. The committee has also established the specific measures for food allergy which are based on the guideline from Japan’s ministry of health, labor and welfare [ 3 ].…”

Food Allergens and Essential Oils in Moisturizers Marketed for Children in Japan

“…Worldwide, the number of children with food allergies is increasing, and 8% of children in the USA and 5% of young children in Japan have food allergies [1,2]. In a single Japanese urban center, the incidence of food allergies has been demonstrated to escalate annually [3]. Childhood food allergy decreases family quality of life and confers nutritional and financial burdens [4].…”

Feast for thought: A comprehensive review of food allergy 2021-2023

“…Food allergy (FA) is a major public health issue globally, affecting about 8% of children and 10% of adults (see Fig 1 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 for global prevalence data). FA has a negative impact on the lives of patients with allergy and their families, and there is no curative treatment.…”