Journal
ALLERGY
Volume 76, Issue 10, Pages 3171-3182Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/all.14823
Keywords
Asian children; eczema; food allergy; GUSTO; healthnuts
Categories
Funding
- Singapore National Research Foundation under its Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Programme [NMRC/TCR/004-NUS/2008, NMRC/TCR/012-NUHS/2014]
- National Medical Research Council [NMRC/CSA/022/2010, NRF370062-HUJ-NUS]
- Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
- UK Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12011/4]
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) [NF-SI-0515-10042]
- NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre [IS-BRC-1215-20004]
- National Medical Research Council (NMRC) [MH 095:003\008-225]
- NMRC, Singapore [MOH-000269]
- National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia
- Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation
- AnaphylaxiStop
- Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure Support Program
- NHMRC Centre for Food and Allergy Research
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Asian children in Australia had a higher prevalence of food allergy and early-onset eczema compared to those in Singapore. The presence of early-onset eczema was associated with an increased risk of food allergy in both countries. Further research with larger sample sizes is needed to confirm and expand on these findings.
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 was defined as parent-reported doctor diagnosis. Results: Food allergy prevalence was 1.1% in Singapore and 15.0% in Australia (P<0.001). Egg introduction was more often delayed (>10 months) in Singapore (63.5%) than Australia (16.3%; P<0.001). Prevalence of early-onset eczema (<6 months) was lower in Singapore (8.4%) than Australia (30.5%) (P<0.001). Children with early-onset eczema were more likely to have food allergy than those without eczema in Australia [aOR 5.11 (2.34-11.14); P<0.001] and Singapore [aOR4.00 (0.62-25.8); P = 0.145]. Conclusions: Among Asian children, prevalence of early-onset eczema and food allergy was higher in Australia than Singapore. Further research with larger sample sizes and harmonized definitions of food allergy between cohorts is required to confirm and extend these findings. Research on environmental factors influencing eczema onset in Australia and Singapore may aid understanding of food allergy pathogenesis in different parts of the world.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available