SPD patient handout: Food allergies and eczema

Abstract

Food allergies are more common in children with eczema. The worse the eczema is, the more likely the child is to have them. Although children with eczema can have food allergies, the allergies do not cause eczema. Other allergies (such as environmental allergies and allergic asthma) are more common in people with eczema, but those allergies also do not cause eczema. HOW WOULD I KNOW IF MY CHILD HAS A FOOD ALLERGY? The rash with food allergy reactions is usually described as hives: round and ringlike red patches on the skin that may be flat or bumpy, are usually itchy, and happen a few minutes to a few hours after eating the food. Children can get rashes from some foods touching their skin, though these rashes tend to be irritation and not allergies.