Rakiya Witwer
Social Welfare 110
12/14/15
Food Allergies is a Health and Psychosocial Problem.
OVERVIEW OF ISSUE -
Food allergies over the years have become a health and psychosocial problem affecting the daily lives of school age children and their families. From 1997 to 2007 there was an increase of food allergies by 18%, an estimated 15 million Americans have food allergies 8% of that are children and 5% adults. (Lanser et al 2015). 1 in 3 Americans has some form of food allergy, 1 in 12 American child has a doctor diagnosed food allergy. (CDC, 2010). There are an estimated 90,000 emergency room visits connected to food allergies and adults with food allergies have a 65% chance of passing it genetically to their child. (CDC, 2010). According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study there was a 50% increase in food allergies among children between 1997 and 2011. (CDC 2013).
In order to understand this issue we have to start by defining what food allergy is. An allergic reaction occurs when the body?s immune system does not recognize a food particularly protein and it builds histamines to protect the immune system from this food. There are varying symptoms of the reaction including,
…show more content…
There is no FDA approved treatment for food allergies but there are ongoing clinical trials that have shown some success in desensitization. In a recent clinical trial of oral immunotherapy that combined probiotics with allergen, 80% of children were able to tolerate allergen after trial ended. (Tang et al 2015). Treatments such as OIT have been shown to be successful depending on the level of severity of children?s food allergies. As food allergy sufferers continue to grow in numbers Social Workers can play a major role in in helping does affected especially children who are the most vulnerable in our society, navigate safely, their daily interaction with
The increased prevalence of food allergies in school children, the rapid onset of symptoms and potentially fatal nature of anaphylaxis, combined with the high risk of accidental exposure warrants significant action.
Food, food is something that we as human beings live off of. But not everybody is as fortunate as others, nowadays food allergies occur in 1 out of every 13 children. This indicates fifteen plus million people have food allergies. This epidemic poses a threat to many citizens that live with food allergies because of the incorrect labeling, distribution and safety of food products. The research provided is to show one, what food allergies are and how they affect daily life of those who live with food allergies. Food allergies are extremely important and educating people about food allergies will hopefully quick start the progress to find a cure.
There has been a steady increase in childhood allergies in the past few years. More and more children are presenting signs of allergies ranging from mild to severe. It is important as parents that we educate our children on their allergies and how to handle allergy related emergencies. Food allergies are among the most common allergies that produce severe reactions in children.
Up to 15 million Americans have food allergies in the US . Food allergies can be life threaten Throughout the world and in many places.
Food allergies, a potentially life threatening condition that may be covered by the ADA, are a serious issue for college age students. At home, they can easily avoid their allergens. When dining out for the majority of their meals, as most college age students do, it can be difficult to avoid those allergens. The objectives of this study is to determine if there are published procedures and policies for food allergies in colleges, to evaluate practices for accommodations, and to determine if variations exist in the accommodations of students between private and public colleges. Methods used were mixed in dual-phase design. Quantitative studies (surveys, questionnaires, etc) were used to create tools necessary for the qualitative phase (interviews).
“The immune system didn’t evolve for allergy. Why in a hundred billion years of evolution would we evolve a response for allergy?”(Joel Weinstock). Throughout the years, food allergies have been on a dramatic increase in the United States. Allergic reactions are caused by antibodies in the immune system which are also known as immunoglobulins. There are five types of immunoglobulins that are produced to fight antigens, such as, bacteria, toxins, viruses, animal dander, fungus, and cancer cells . Each immunoglobulin fights a different antigen and is found in different parts of the human body. Immunoglobulins help the immune system when an allergen has entered the human body, each of these antibody releases a chemical called histamine, which is produced by the immune system to protect the human body. Histamine is one of the main reasons why allergy symptoms are triggered. Food allergens can cause severe or mild reactions due to an unusual mistake the immune system can make. The immune system usually mistakens a particular substance to be physically harming the human body and in the act to try and protect itself, it releases histamine. There are many reasons why food allergies occur, such as processed foods, genetically engineered proteins in foods, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms can all cause serious food allergies. It all began in 1996 when Genetically Modified Organisms were introduced to our foods. Genetically Modified Organisms are organisms that have been
The school has policies and procedures in place which make staff and others working with children in the school to be aware of their individual responsibilities. They also improve and update regularly the level of information from parents.The table for graph C shows the prevalence variation of food allergies by age among children from 0 to 14 years. The graph also identified how each food allergies increase with a different age. From 0- 2years old peanut has 22.2%, 3-5 years 30.3, 6- 10 years 22.5, 11-13 years 28.1 and from 2-14 years 20.2. From the table, we could see that children from 3-5 years which are nursery children have the highest peanut allergies. This means that these children are the highest risk of food allergies.From the breakdown of food allergies, graph A shows the percentage of total cases of how food allergies have increased among the children. The graph also shows that 50% of children are allergic to nuts and these are the most common type of food allergies among the children in the UK. This is because there are peanut ingredients in many types of food children like to eat such as peanut
The Hygiene Hypothesis states that first world countries are exposing their immune systems to so little at a young age, that immune systems are not able to develop properly, leading to a major increase in severe health issues such as food allergies and asthma. Researchers estimate that up to 15 million Americans have food allergies, including those at risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis (1). Allergies affect one in every thirteen children in the US, with children’s food allergies alone having an economic cost of $25 billion per year (1). Approximately every three minutes, someone is sent to the Emergency Room due to a food allergy – many of which with life-threatening symptoms. Food allergies are still an incurable disease that has drastic effects on both life quality and life span all over the world, especially in more developed countries (2).
The article is started by explaining what a food allergy is and the reactions that could happen when a person has an allergic reaction. Then it elaborates on school-aged children with food allergies and how they are bullied for having an allergy within school. I think this source will be beneficial to my paper by providing the basic information about children who are bullied due to their food allergy. It will help to answer my research question by showing how children are negatively impacted socially from their food allergy. The article showed me a new depth of bullying that could happen to children who are just trying to prevent allergic reactions.
Severe food allergies can cause life threatening anaphylactic responses, which are becoming more prevalent within the United States. There has been at least an 18% increase in food allergies among children in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An increase in genetic variation cannot explain the increasing prevalence of food allergies, which leads to inquiries on whether environmental factors such as antibiotics, diet, vaccines and sanitation practices alter the composition of commensal microbiota, causing allergen sensitization. Twenty years ago, the “Hygiene Hypothesis” spread light on the adverse effects that have occurred due to the effort to reduce the population's exposure to infectious diseases.
When the body comes into contact with an unknown substance the brain decides whether or not the substance is harmful or harmless. An allergy is formed when the brain decides the substance is harmful and the allergen makes contact with mast cells, releasing histamine therefore causing inflammation. Allergies can also form due to the environment surrounding a person. For example, in the southern regions of the U.S, people are more likely to be allergic to eggs, milk and peanuts, where as if you live in Italy, you are more likely to be allergic to fish. (Stewart, K. 2015) Scientists are unsure of why this occurs, although the regular consumption of particular foods in different parts of the world could build a tolerance to certain substances, causing particular allergies to be more likely. The way foods are processed in different parts of the world and what toxins and pollutants are more likely to be found could also have an affect on the likelihood of an
Did you know that food allergies are most common among babies and small young children? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies are predicted to distress four to six percent of children. Food allergy reactions can range in severity, such as a simple rash to death. Children from birth to five years old have higher rates of food allergies than children over the age of five. Food allergies are not a thought if your child does not have them. However, before you feed someone else child, ask the parent is it ok for them to eat something first.
Food allergies are abnormal immunological responses to a special food or food component . Two types of abnormal immunological responses can happen immediately and delayed reactions. Both are well documented to occur in certain individuals at ingestion of specific foods.recently These illnesses are spread and sometimes called individualistic reverse reactions to foods because they affect only certain individuals in the population.In addition ,Cause of food allergy enter hospital almost thirty thousand people to the emergency room, and up to a hundred to two hundred deaths each year (Taylor and Hefle. 2005).
Food allergies are abnormal immunological responses to a special food or food component . Two types of abnormal immunological responses can happen immediately and delayed reactions. Both are well documented to occur in certain individuals at ingestion of specific foods.recently These illnesses are spread and sometimes called individualistic reverse reactions to foods because they affect only certain individuals in the population.In addition ,Cause of food allergy enter hospital almost thirty thousand people to the emergency room, and up to a hundred to two hundred deaths each year (Taylor and Hefle. 2005).
There are programs being designed to make eating out safer for those with food allergies according to the authors of Food allergy risk communication in