Prevalence of clinic-defined food allergy in early adolescence: The SchoolNuts study

Abstract

Background Rising rates of food-induced anaphylaxis have recently been shown in the adolescent age group, following earlier descriptions of a rise in children younger than 5 years. However, few population-based studies have examined the prevalence of food allergy in adolescence using objective measures such as oral food challenge (OFC). Objective We sought to determine the prevalence of food allergy among a population-based sample of 10- to 14-year-old adolescents using clinical evaluation including OFC to confirm the diagnosis. Methods Schools were randomly selected from greater metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Students aged 10 to 14 years, and their parents, were asked to complete a ques..