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Parental concerns of allergy or hypersensitivity and the infant's diet
Bettina Holmberg Fagerlund1, Sølvi Helseth1, Lene Frost Andersen2
1Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University Oslo Norway.
Insights
Parental fear of allergies led 34% to avoid foods for infants. This fear correlated with a desire for more infant feeding information, but not with actual dietary restrictions in children
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Food Allergy Prevention
- Child Health and Development
Background:
- Parental concerns regarding food allergies and hypersensitivity reactions can influence infant feeding practices.
- Understanding the link between parental fear and actual dietary choices is crucial for providing appropriate guidance.
- Early childhood nutrition plays a vital role in long-term health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between current child diet and parental reported food avoidance at 10 months.
- To investigate the role of parental fears of allergic or hypersensitivity reactions in food avoidance.
- To explore the relationship between these parental fears and the need for more infant feeding information.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study design.
- Inclusion of 686 children via parental participation at child health centers across 10 municipalities.
- Data collection using semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaires from 440 parents (64% response rate).
Main Results:
- 34% of parents reported avoiding certain foods due to fears of allergy or hypersensitivity in their child.
- A significant association was found between reported food avoidance fears and parental desire for more infant/toddler food information.
- Parental fears of food allergies were not statistically associated with actual dietary restrictions in the child's current diet.
Conclusions:
- Parental anxiety about food allergies is common and linked to a need for better information resources.
- Despite fears, parents' reported avoidance did not translate into significant dietary restrictions for their children.
- Targeted educational support for parents regarding infant nutrition and allergy management is warranted.
Aim:
To investigate a possible association between children's current diet and parents' reported avoidance of appropriate foods in the child's diet at the age of 10 months, due to fears of allergic or hypersensitivity reactions.
Design:
A cross-sectional study.
Methods:
In 10 randomly selected municipalities willing to participate, 686 children represented by their parents visiting the child health centre were enrolled in the study. From January 2015-January 2017, 440 (64%) parents completed a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire concerning their child.
Results:
Thirty-four percent of parents reported that they avoided introducing some food items due to fears of allergy or hypersensitivity in their child. A statistically significant relationship emerged between this reporting and parents wanting more information about food for infants and toddlers. However, the reported fear was not associated with dietary restrictions regarding actual feeding of the child.