Food allergies are less common in
underdeveloped countries. Proponents of the hygiene hypothesis say
that the relatively low incidence of childhood infections in
developed countries contributes to an increased incidence of
allergic diseases.
Harvard Medical School asserts that recent increases in peanut
allergies, and the measures taken in response, show elements of mass
psychogenic illness - hysterical reactions grossly out of proportion
to the level of danger.
Only 150 people (children and adults) die each year in the US from
all food allergies combined. The US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention officially documents 13 deaths (including six adults) due
to peanuts between 1996 and 2006. Peanuts are legumes, not true
nuts.
Four percent of adults and four percent of children have food
allergies. Less than one percent (0.6) of people in the US have a
peanut allergy. In France, the rate of peanut allergy is between .3
percent and .75 percent, Denmark is .2 to .4 percent; and Israel
about .04 percent.
The exact cause of someone developing a peanut allergy is unknown.
Smelling the aroma of peanuts cannot cause an allergic reaction.
Highly refined peanut oil is purified, refined, bleached, and
deodorized, which removes the allergic proteins from the oil.
A recent study showed 26.6% of children with a peanut or tree nut
allergy outgrew their allergies, at an average age of 5.4 years old.
Black children were less likely to outgrow their allergy than white
children and boys were more likely to outgrow their allergy than
girls.
The American Academy of Pediatrics used to instruct parents to avoid
peanut use until their kids reached age 3, but that has been
rescinded. A British study has found that consuming peanuts in
infancy lowers the risk that a child will develop peanut allergies.
Headlines most often ignore that people who are allergic to peanuts
are also often allergic to one or more tree nuts (almonds, walnuts,
pecans, cashews, pistachios, etc.).
A new study shows increased peanut consumption by pregnant mothers
who were not nut allergic was associated with lower risk of peanut
allergy in their offspring.