Dietary management of food allergy in children

Currently, the only treatment for any food hypersensitivity (including food allergy) is the dietary avoidance of the causative allergen, using an elimination diet. In addition to being used for the management of food hypersensitivity, an elimination diet may also be used in the diagnosis of food allergy. Dietary exclusion should be managed by a dietitian or other health professional with nutritional expertise to ensure that the exclusion does not lead to a nutritionally-deficient diet. There are three main types of elimination diets: single-food exclusion; multiple-food exclusion; the 'few-food' diet, which requires the avoidance of a large number of allergens and therefore concentrates on the foods that can be included rather than the foods that need to be avoided. Any sort of elimination diet is hard to manage. Thus, as well as ensuring that the diet is nutritionally adequate, it is essential that families are given advice and support relevant to their circumstances to aid them in the day-to-day management of the diet, so that it remains varied and enjoyable for food-allergy sufferers. This approach involves advice about which alternative foods are available, provision of 'free-from' recipes and guidance on which nutritional supplements are needed to meet their nutritional needs.