We all know childhood obesity has severe health consequences. And a new study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, suggests that obesity may also lead to allergies, food allergies in particular. Researchers of this study opine that reducing childhood obesity may help in preventing the dreaded allergies, which are on the rise among children.
In the study, researchers analyzed about 4, 111 children and young adults between the ages 2 to 19. They following were analyzed:
- IgE antibody levels in the blood for specific allergens such as indoor, outdoor and food allergens. (High levels of IgE antibodies in blood indicates allergies. IgE antibodies are allergen-specific)
- Body weight
- Diagnoses of eczema, hay fever, and allergies
Researchers found that obese children were more likely to have high levels of IgE antibody levels.. Obese kids were 26% more likely to suffer from allergies as against kids of normal weight.
The study further expounds about a relation between obesity and food allergies accentuating that obese kids were 59% more likely to have food allergies.
The information for this research was taken from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). NHANES has the largest allergy and asthma information ever collected in the United States. This survey provides information such as exposure to allergens, allergen sensitization, and outcome of the disease etc.
This study was funded by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). According to Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D, NIEHS director, “Seeing a possible link between obesity and allergies provides additional motivation for undertaking the challenge of reducing childhood obesity.”
Cynthia M. Visness, Ph.D., lead author of this paper feels that as both obesity and allergies have increased among children in the last several years, it is important to understand and prevent these epidemics.
