Parents see more food, skin allergies in children
By MIKE STOBBE
/ Associate Press /
May 2, 2013
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NEW YORK — Parents are reporting more skin and food allergies in their children, a big government survey found.
Experts aren’t sure what’s behind the increase. Could it be that children are growing up in households so clean that it leaves them more sensitive to things that can trigger allergies? Or are mom and dad paying closer attention to rashes and reactions, and more likely to call it an allergy?
The CDC survey suggests that about 1 in 20 US children have food allergies. That’s a 50 percent increase from the late 1990s. For eczema and other skin allergies, it’s 1 in 8 children, an increase of 69 percent. It found no increase, however, in hay fever or other respiratory allergies. Full story for BostonGlobe.com subscribers.
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