The prevalence of allergic diseases in children is markedly increasing to epidemic proportions. The goal of a new study published in The European Journal of Pediatrics was to describe the presence and examine associated parental and child characteristics of allergic sensitization and physician-diagnosed allergy in children at 10 years of age. In this population-based prospective cohort study, 5471 Dutch children were assessed since their fetal life.
Here, allergic sensitization was measured by skin prick tests; physician-diagnosed allergy and parental and child characteristics were collected via questionnaires. The results revealed that in children aged 10 years, inhalant and food allergic sensitization were present in 32.2% and 7.1%, respectively, while physician-diagnosed inhalant and food allergy existed in 12.4% and 2.3%, respectively. Maternal and paternal history of allergy,…
