Childhood Allergies On The Rise Worldwide

A recent study has revealed that childhood allergies have become more prevalent around the globe since a decade and a half.

Last tests were conducted by the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) in 1991 to assess the worldwide prevalence of allergies like asthma, hayfever, and eczema in children. Since then the allergies have shown an uptrend especially among children of lower age groups, report researchers.

The study was conducted by Scientists at the University Of Auckland, New Zealand. Team headed by Innes Asher conducted a multi-country, cross sectional survey. The sample of the study was divided into two age groups. Both developing countries such as South Africa, Brazil, and Iran and developed countries such as Canada, New Zealand, and UK were taken under the preview of the study.

In the first group 1,93, 400 children aged 6-7 years from 37 countries were examined. Whereas, the second group comprised of 3,04, 680 children, aged 13-14 years from 56 countries. The parents of children in both groups were questioned about the presence of symptoms of asthma and allergies, such as wheezing, in their child.

The findings of the study revealed that since 1991 there has been a change in prevalence of one or more allergies in almost all centers.

Eczema reported the highest increase in the younger age group whereas hayfever allergies attacked both age groups alike. However, Asthma allergies showed a worldwide improvement except for the Asia-Pacific and India region where all three disorders showed deterioration from 1991 figures in both age groups.

In the 1700 children examined in the UK, asthma prevalence went up from 18.4% in 1991 to 20.9% in 2003, hayfever allergies went up from 9.8% to 10.1% and eczema rose from 13% to 16%.

The next course of action for the researchers is to examine possible causes of increase in such allergies. The factors contributing to the increase may as varied as environmental conditions, economic status, different nutritional habits and slackened exercise routines. Needless to say, corrective action will have to be taken as soon as the problematic areas are identified.