Obesity and Food Allergies

Obesity and food allergies may go hand in hand, but the question of which one is leading the two, remains. It’s the old dilemma, which came first the chicken or the egg, but instead, its whether the egg allergy caused the individual to plump up like a chicken or was it excess eating which caused the egg allergy.

One study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that there was an increase in food allergies in children as their weight passed from normal to overweight and obesity. The more the child weighed, the more they had food allergies. They found the association with an increased predisposition to allergies. Immunoglobulin E, the body’s antibody found in allergic response increased as the child’s body mass index grew.

Others looked at the same type of data and wondered whether the increased immunoglobulin E might be one reason the child was obese.

The study questioned whether a diet restricted to specific types of food might increase deficiencies and create a higher caloric intake. Regardless of which came first, the extra fried chicken or the egg allergy, it appears that there’s a link between the two. Childhood obesity and allergies, particularly food allergies, increased just as childhood obesity has in the past 20 years.

Another study showed that the increase in weight isn't from a sedentary lifestyle as once thought. Today, children get as much physical exercise as their parents did, if not more, yet there’s more fat children in the US and Europe. The problem lies in the food or the body’s reaction to the food.

Scanning the changes in food and lifestyle over the last 20 years and using the data on activity and obesity, you have to stop and wonder if both the obesity and food allergies are directly caused by the same factor, rather than causing each other. High fructose corn syrup, created in the 1960’s and thrust into the foods since the 1980’s, is a staple in the diets of all children in developed nations. Often called the crack of sweeteners, this additive is in almost everything from cereal to yogurt and is the second leading ingredient in processed food. Along with the increase of this additive, obesity increased, as did the allergy flag, an increase in immunoglobulin E.

Obesity, once uncommon in the classrooms is on a dramatic swing upward. In 1980, only 6 % of children in grades 1-6 were overweight. Today, the percentage skyrockets as it reaches almost 20 % of the early school age population. With the increase in weight also comes the increase in other diseases besides allergies. Some of these diseases take their toll and shorten the life of the child in later years. Others cause increased morbidity rather than mortality, increasing the pressures on the health care industry.

Obesity is now on a pandemic increase and yet little is done on a societal basis. Unlike smokers that are attacked by both media and society, it’s not polite to mention someone’s weight, particularly that of a child. The plague of obese individuals continues to rise and yet there still is no answer why. Regardless of which came first, the link between obesity and food allergies is obvious and needs to be investigated further.