[url="http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1505085"]http://www.iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1252&ArticleID=1505085[/url]
DON'T CUT OUT BABY FOODS, PARENTS TOLDBy Lori Little
BABIES are having their diets restricted in the mistaken belief they are intolerant to certain foods, research undertaken on the IW has revealed.
The University of Portsmouth study discovered a quarter of parents report adverse reactions to food in their infants during their first year of life but of these, only an eighth were confirmed as having food hypersensitivity.
Dr Taraneh Dean, who specialises in food allergy and intolerance, led a team of researchers from the David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre at St Mary's Hospital, Newport.
The research emphasised the need for accurate diagnosis to prevent infants from being placed on unnecessarily restricted diets that may be associated with inadequate nutrition.
The results of the study, funded by the Food Standards Agency and published by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, highlighted the foods most frequently associated with food hypersensitivity to be milk, eggs and soy.
"This was an exciting project since it was the first time we could measure parents' perception of their child's hypersensitivity during the very crucial first year of life and compare it to the actual rate assessed scientifically," said Dr Dean.
"We found parentally perceived food hypersensitivity is considerably higher than objectively assessed food hypersensitivity.
"It is important that parents seek advice from their doctors before restricting their child's diet."
16 May 2006
I don't doubt this is true. I myself was this way. I had the likely mistaken belief DS was allergic to milk so I put him on soy formula instead and then tried peanut butter at 15 months thinking he needed more protein since we were avoiding dairy. However if drs made more of an effort to educate and listen to moms this wouldn't have happened!
How many of us have been blown off by a dr when we have brought up the possibility of allergies...I have been many times, including following an anaphylactic attack! In fact it's like allergies are a big secret...unless things have changed recently, try finding any information about allergies and anaphylaxis in any of the best selling baby books...it's not there! I think they feel that BECAUSE moms tend to overdiagnose allergies it's best not to make any info readily available but maybe moms tend to overdiagnose allergies BECAUSE of the lack of good info made readily available.
TJsmom