Nut Allergies May Be On The Rise In Children: US Study

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/3049092.bin?size=620x400

• 1-2% children in the US have peanut allergies, a rate which has tripled since 1997.
• Peanuts and Tree nuts are the most common child allergy in the US, and it is right to ban them from cafeterias across the nation.
• It is thought that because our society is so clean, children don't get exposure to germs early on and it affects their immune system later in life.
• Confirmed allergies are low, but that is because parents deny surveyors access to doctor reports.

Reflection:

I find it scary that so many kids have allergies that can be fatal, and no one really takes major precautions. I think that research should be done more in-depth. Maybe parents just overreact to minor allergies and get freaky about them. It could be possible that kids have always have these allergies, but parents didn't know or report it. Maybe kids could just man up and deal with it. Only a few kids have fatal peanut allergies. I think that more data needs to be presented for this article to become really legit. This relates to our immune system unit, specifically hypersensitivity, and maybe these allergies are an increasing mutation caused by environmental factors.

Link:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/allergies+rise+children+study/3049087/story.html

Citation:

Reuters. "Nut Allergies May Be on the Rise in Children: U.S. Study." Montreal Gazette | Latest Breaking News | Business | Sports | Canada Daily News. 12 May 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. .