Children of Asian ethnicity in Australia have higher risk of food allergy and early-onset eczema than those in Singapore

Noor HA Suaini; Evelyn Xiu-Ling Loo; Rachel L Peters; Gaik Chin Yap; Katrina J Allen; Hugo Van Bever; David J Martino; Anne Eng Neo Goh; Shyamali C Dharmage; Marjorelee T Colega; Mary Foong Fong Chong; Anne-Louise Ponsonby; Kok Hian Tan; Mimi LK Tang; Keith M Godfrey; Bee Wah Lee; Lynette Pei-Chi Shek; Jennifer J Koplin; Elizabeth Huiwen Tham

Journal article

Children of Asian ethnicity in Australia have higher risk of food allergy and early-onset eczema than those in Singapore

Noor HA Suaini, Evelyn Xiu-Ling Loo, Rachel L Peters, Gaik Chin Yap, Katrina J Allen, Hugo Van Bever, David J Martino, Anne Eng Neo Goh, Shyamali C Dharmage, Marjorelee T Colega, Mary Foong Fong Chong, Anne-Louise Ponsonby, Kok Hian Tan, Mimi LK Tang, Keith M Godfrey, Bee Wah Lee, Lynette Pei-Chi Shek, Jennifer J Koplin, Elizabeth Huiwen Tham

Allergy | WILEY | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.1111/all.14823

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Western countries, Asian children have higher food allergy risk than Caucasian children. The early-life environmental exposures for this discrepancy are unclear. We aimed to compare prevalence of food allergy and associated risk factors between Asian children in Singapore and Australia. METHODS: We studied children in the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) birth cohort (n = 878) and children of Asian ancestry in the HealthNuts cohort (n = 314). Food allergy was defined as a positive SPT ≥3 mm to egg or peanut AND either a convincing history of IgE-mediated reaction at 18 months (GUSTO) or a positive oral food challenge at 14-18 months (HealthNuts). Eczema..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Jennifer Koplin Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Shyamali Dharmage Author Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

Grants

Awarded by Singapore National Research Foundation under its Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Programme

Awarded by National Medical Research Council

Awarded by UK Medical Research Council

Awarded by National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

Awarded by NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre

Awarded by National Medical Research Council (NMRC)

Awarded by NMRC, Singapore

Funding Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation under its Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Programme and administered by the Singapore Ministry of Health's National Medical Research Council (NMRC), Singapore-NMRC/TCR/004-NUS/2008; NMRC/TCR/012-NUHS/2014. This work was also supported by the National Medical Research Council, NMRC/CSA/022/2010 and NRF370062-HUJ-NUS (Project 10). Additional funding is provided by the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore. K. M. Godfrey is funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_12011/4) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR Senior Investigator (NF-SI-0515-10042) and NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre (IS-BRC-1215-20004). E. H. Tham is supported by the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Research Training Fellowship grant [MH 095:003\008-225] and the Transition Award [MOH-000269] from NMRC, Singapore. The HealthNuts study was funded by the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia, Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation and AnaphylaxiStop. Support for research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute was provided by the Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program. N. H. A Suaini received funding from the NHMRC Centre for Food and Allergy Research