Food allergy has not been on the radar of most racial and ethnic communities. But a recent Northwestern Medicine study -; the primary population-based food allergy study within the U.S. to explore racial and ethnic differences in all age groups -; shows why it must be.

The brand new study found the prevalence of food allergy is highest amongst Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black and Asian individuals across all ages. And food allergy is lowest amongst households earning greater than $150,000 a yr.

The study can be published June 14 in JAMA Open Network.

There was a paucity of population-based data of food allergy amongst racial and ethnic groups within the U.S., the authors said. Most previous studies also focused on children.

Food allergies will not be steadily talked about impacting racial and ethnic communities. It isn’t on the radar. But we now realize it does impact them more, and it is vital to enhance awareness.

It is usually critical to enhance access to diagnosis and coverings for food allergy. It’s an exciting time with recent treatments, and ensuring they reach racial and ethnic minorities who’ve higher rates of food allergy is important.”

Dr. Ruchi Gupta, study corresponding creator

Gupta is director of the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research and a professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She is also a physician on the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Kid’s Hospital of Chicago.

Recent treatments include various types of immunotherapy including oral, epicutaneous (on the skin) and sublingual (under the tongue), all of which desensitize the immune system to the allergen. One other treatment is recent biologics, Gupta said, which block the allergic response cascade.

When Gupta first began doing food-allergy research twenty years ago, researchers didn’t know disparities existed.

“We now know that racial and ethnic minorities in addition to underserved populations often don’t get to an allergist for diagnosis,” Gupta said. “They’ve the symptoms of food allergy however the access to get to a specialist has been difficult, and the indisputable fact that there have been no treatments led them to only attempt to avoid the food.”

But the brand new study shows that food allergy -; which affects 11% of adults and eight% of youngsters within the U.S.-; touches adults and kids of each race and ethnicity.

Among the many study findings:

• Prevalence of food allergy is highest amongst Asian (10.5%), Hispanic (10.6%) and non-Hispanic Black individuals across all ages (10.6%).
• Non-Hispanic Black individuals with food allergy were most definitely to report food allergy to multiple foods (50.6%).
• Asian and non-Hispanic white individuals had the bottom rates of severe food allergy reactions.
• Prevalence of food allergy was lowest inside households earning greater than $150,000 per yr (8.3%).

Along with prevalence of food allergy, this study also reports on outcomes similar to common food allergens, emergency department visits for food-allergic reactions and epinephrine usage. It also aspects in socioeconomic status, which is said to food-allergy prevalence.

The study also suggests that an ensemble of allergic conditions all have similar patterns by way of whom is affected. The ensemble is an element of a progression of allergic conditions that develop over infancy and into childhood (called the atopic march) including eczema, food allergy, allergic rhinitis and asthma.

“There have not been enough genetic changes during the last 30 to 40 years to clarify this grouping of allergic conditions,” said study co-author Christopher Warren, an epidemiologist and an assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Clearly, something has modified within the environment. It behooves us to work out what are those changes, and the way can we reverse them or add interventions to mitigate them.”

“It Is an exciting time in food allergy with recent diagnostics, prevention and coverings,” Gupta said. “Our goal is to see these numbers start to return down in the subsequent 30 to 40 years.”

Within the study, a population-based survey was administered online and via telephone to a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population. Greater than 50,000 households were surveyed, comprising responses for nearly 80,000 individuals.

Northwestern is hosting a Global Food Allergy Prevention Summit July 7-9 in Chicago. A few of the sessions will cover food allergy disparities.

Other Northwestern authors include first creator Jialing Jiang and Dr. Audrey Brewer.

The study was funded partly by grant R21AI135702 from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease of the National Institutes of Health.

Source:

Journal reference:

Jiang, J., et al. (2023) Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Differences in Food Allergies within the US. JAMA Network Open. doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18162.