Food Allergies in Children: What to Look For, What to Do

Food allergies in children will often show up in a child who has been the classic "difficult" baby: colicky, sleepless, difficult to please. (Read more on the Baby Food Allergies page.) Around one year of age, your baby may seem to improve--she's sleeping better, the reflux is gone . . . but then a new set of physical symptoms and behaviors shows up. Or, maybe, previous symptoms and behaviors come into focus as they increase in intensity.

The classic allergy symptoms include itching, swelling, rashes, and difficulty breathing. With repeated exposure to the allergenic food, your child could a life-threatening attack--anaphylaxis. Usually, since these reactions come on quite quickly, the offending food is easy to recognize. The important thing is to always follow your doctor's recommendations, and don't leave home without appropriate medication, such as an EpiPen , if prescribed.

With the less obvious type of food allergies, usually called intolerances, your child may have recurrent infections, like bronchitis, earaches, or colds. This is the child who finishes one round of antibiotics and, within a few weeks, starts another.

You may notice nasal allergies, seasonal or not. A constant runny nose or "rattly" breathing or wheezing can be symptoms of food allergies in children.

Other symptoms of food allergies in children include:

• red ears
• flushed cheeks
• bags and/or wrinkles under the eyes
• undereye circles
• a "glazed" look
• an aversion to being touched or cuddled
• being easily irritated with clothes rubbing on the skin/dislike of wearing clothes
• eczema or rough, bumpy skin

Another major problem in some--but not all--allergic children is behavior. We know it's normal for toddlers and young children to be defiant, to throw fits every now and then, and to have plenty of energy, but some allergic children are unusually aggressive, angry, and hyperactive.

I remember the first time I realized wheat had a significant effect on my then-two-year-old. Though normally a pretty busy little guy, I watched my son literally bouncing off the kitchen wall over and over and over again while laughing hysterically, one night after having had a sizable amount of wheat. After a few more "tests," I determined that wheat in any but the smallest amounts would result in hyperactivity and loss of gross motor control (tripping and falling many times in a row), as well as (apparently related to this) as loss of his sense of where he was in space. This meant that, if he had had wheat, he was guaranteed to fall out of bed that night--something he almost never did otherwise.

I have a friend who was given a hard time by other parents when, instead of disciplining her son for his temper tantrums, she'd give him a nebulizer treatment for his asthma. She found her son was reacting to several different foods in his diet. His reactions included both the asthma and aggression, and initially, she saw that treating his asthma helped reduce his behavioral symptoms as well. Once she recognized all the food allergies in her children (there are now eight kids), she put them on a rotated , whole-foods, low-allergy diet. Whereas before, her four oldest were on 30 asthma medications between them, they are now on NONE, and are the most delightful kids you've ever met.

If you feel your child is out of control and all your efforts at discipline seem to be falling flat, try changing the diet. All children need training, but if there's something affecting your child biologically, take care of that first. Otherwise you'll keep getting frustrated! Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise--food allergies in children can very much affect their behavior.

It's so important to keep a food and behavior diary if you suspect food allergies in your children. Keep track of all foods eaten and chemicals exposed to (for example, tobacco smoke, molds, gas utilities, new furniture or carpet), along with the behavior each day. Try to record the times of foods eaten and behaviors or symptoms, as well. This will help you adjust the diet and reduce the load on your child's immune system.

If you're interested in further reading on food allergies in children, I'd recommend Dr. Doris Rapp's classic, Is This Your Child? Discovering and Treating Unrecognized Allergies in Children and Adults. Another helpful book I've been using is Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment by Brostoff and Gamlin.

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