Are food allergies forever? Maybe not

Kids with eczema often have food allergies as well. Once an allergy has been identified, parents are naturally reluctant to expose their child again. But there are some foods your child is likely to outgrow and continuing to limit their diets may be unnecessary. For example, by adolescence, 80% of children will outgrow a wheat allergy, 79% of children will outgrow a cow milk allergy and 68% of children will outgrow an egg allergy.

A recent Australian study in Allergy predicted which children were more likely to outgrow peanut allergies. It followed 156 infants who were identified as having peanut allergies by age 1, and administered questionnaires, skin tests, oral food challenges and blood tests at ages 4, 6 and 10. The research suggested that a decrease in peanut specific antibodies (sIgE and sIgG4) over time was associated with a resolution of peanut allergy in nearly 34% of kids by age 10, with most kids seeing a resolution by age 6. Previous research suggested that kids outgrow peanut allergies only 20% of the time.

To learn more about outgrowing food allergies, take a look at this in-depth article with research links to guide you. It details which allergies are most and least likely to fade, how to get your child tested and how to distinguish between a food allergy and food intolerance.