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WASHINGTON — Among children with reported food allergies, peanut and tree nut allergy were significantly associated with having asthma, even after adjusting for several confounding factors.
“A diagnosis of asthma should be kept in mind for any child with food allergies,” Dr. Jonathan M. Gaffin said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. However, “Children with peanut or tree nut allergy may be at particular risk,” he added in his poster presentation.
Data were collected on a cohort of 1,240 children treated for food allergy at allergy referral centers around Boston. The mean age of the cohort was 6 years (range 2 months to 20 years).
The overall prevalence of asthma was 48% (592 children)—higher than the 29% of children with food allergy and asthma reported in the 2007 National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
Because his study included only children at subspecialty allergy clinics, those with food allergies may have been more likely to have physician-verified food allergies, said Dr. Gaffin, a pulmonary fellow in the division of immunology at Children's Hospital, Boston. Regional trends in food allergy, asthma, or diagnosis of food allergy and asthma may be other reasons for the discrepancy.
In any case, after controlling for patients having never tried each food allergen, age, gender, parents' asthma diagnosis, pollen allergy, and maternal education level, there was a significantly higher prevalence of asthma for peanut and tree nut allergy, as well as for pet allergy, pollen allergy, and eczema.
However, after a second multivariate analysis of those 1,027 children who had their food allergies tested (as opposed to never having tried the food), only peanut allergy (odds ratio 1.8) and tree nut allergy (OR 1.9) still had significantly greater association with asthma.
Dr. Gaffin recommended that a careful history on suspected or known asthma or food allergy also include questions about the other condition.
The study was funded by the Jordan Family Fund for Allergy Research. Dr. Gaffin said there were no other disclosures to make.
WASHINGTON — Among children with reported food allergies, peanut and tree nut allergy were significantly associated with having asthma, even after adjusting for several confounding factors.
“A diagnosis of asthma should be kept in mind for any child with food allergies,” Dr. Jonathan M. Gaffin said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. However, “Children with peanut or tree nut allergy may be at particular risk,” he added in his poster presentation.
Data were collected on a cohort of 1,240 children treated for food allergy at allergy referral centers around Boston. The mean age of the cohort was 6 years (range 2 months to 20 years).
The overall prevalence of asthma was 48% (592 children)—higher than the 29% of children with food allergy and asthma reported in the 2007 National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
Because his study included only children at subspecialty allergy clinics, those with food allergies may have been more likely to have physician-verified food allergies, said Dr. Gaffin, a pulmonary fellow in the division of immunology at Children's Hospital, Boston. Regional trends in food allergy, asthma, or diagnosis of food allergy and asthma may be other reasons for the discrepancy.
In any case, after controlling for patients having never tried each food allergen, age, gender, parents' asthma diagnosis, pollen allergy, and maternal education level, there was a significantly higher prevalence of asthma for peanut and tree nut allergy, as well as for pet allergy, pollen allergy, and eczema.
However, after a second multivariate analysis of those 1,027 children who had their food allergies tested (as opposed to never having tried the food), only peanut allergy (odds ratio 1.8) and tree nut allergy (OR 1.9) still had significantly greater association with asthma.
Dr. Gaffin recommended that a careful history on suspected or known asthma or food allergy also include questions about the other condition.
The study was funded by the Jordan Family Fund for Allergy Research. Dr. Gaffin said there were no other disclosures to make.
WASHINGTON — Among children with reported food allergies, peanut and tree nut allergy were significantly associated with having asthma, even after adjusting for several confounding factors.
“A diagnosis of asthma should be kept in mind for any child with food allergies,” Dr. Jonathan M. Gaffin said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. However, “Children with peanut or tree nut allergy may be at particular risk,” he added in his poster presentation.
Data were collected on a cohort of 1,240 children treated for food allergy at allergy referral centers around Boston. The mean age of the cohort was 6 years (range 2 months to 20 years).
The overall prevalence of asthma was 48% (592 children)—higher than the 29% of children with food allergy and asthma reported in the 2007 National Health Interview Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.
Because his study included only children at subspecialty allergy clinics, those with food allergies may have been more likely to have physician-verified food allergies, said Dr. Gaffin, a pulmonary fellow in the division of immunology at Children's Hospital, Boston. Regional trends in food allergy, asthma, or diagnosis of food allergy and asthma may be other reasons for the discrepancy.
In any case, after controlling for patients having never tried each food allergen, age, gender, parents' asthma diagnosis, pollen allergy, and maternal education level, there was a significantly higher prevalence of asthma for peanut and tree nut allergy, as well as for pet allergy, pollen allergy, and eczema.
However, after a second multivariate analysis of those 1,027 children who had their food allergies tested (as opposed to never having tried the food), only peanut allergy (odds ratio 1.8) and tree nut allergy (OR 1.9) still had significantly greater association with asthma.
Dr. Gaffin recommended that a careful history on suspected or known asthma or food allergy also include questions about the other condition.
The study was funded by the Jordan Family Fund for Allergy Research. Dr. Gaffin said there were no other disclosures to make.