Prevalence of food allergy in nursery and kindergarten children in Samsun

Aim: In recent years, the frequency of food allergy in children is gradually increasing. Food allergy affects growth, development and quality of life adversely. There is no enough research in the preschool age group which food allergy is seen more frequent. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of food allergy in nursery and kindergarten children living in Samsun. Material and Method: In this study, we included the nursery and kindergarten children living in Samsun. A standardized self-administered questionnaire on food allergy was handed out to 2390 parents. We achieved response rate of 53.5%. The parents of children with suspected food allergy were called by phone to learn detailed history. Results: The prevalence of parental perceived allergic reactions to food was 7.7% (99 subjects). Of these, 51.5% subjects were male. There were no differences between the mean age of children with FA (5.03 +/- 1.0) and the healthy children (5.17 +/- 0.86). The prevalence of the FA in the three years olds was lower than the other age groups. The most common allergic foods were hen's egg (25.3%) and chocolate (21.2%), foods additives (1.2%), strawberry (9.2%), cow milk (7.1%) and nuts (4.1%). The most reported systemic reactions to foods were related with skin (53.5%) and gastrointestinal systems (31.4%). Conclusions: The prevalence of food allergy was similar to our country and the Asia countries, but lower than the European and American countries. Food allergy should be kept in mind in preschool children with recurrent skin and gastrointestinal tract symptoms.