Faculty Mentor(s)

Dr. Cathy Anstrom

Project Type

Departmental Honors project

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery

Presentation Type

Poster Session

Abstract

Introduction: Children are developing food allergies that persist into their adult lives. Literature hypothesizes that introducing foods into a child’s diet late increases the risk of developing food allergies. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship of introducing allergy foods within the first nine months to determine if allergen symptoms were observed by the age of two.

Methods: The FDA/CDC Global Opinion Panel Section C of the Infant Feeding Practices Survey was administered to 60 parents of children aged 2-5 participated. Twenty-two responses were returned and analyzed using a Chi-Squared Test of Independence. Parents were recruited by MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) coordinators.

Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between introducing food early (months) and allergy development in 2 of the 12 allergen foods. Cow’s milk (1, n= 18) = 5.73, p=0.017, Cramer’s V= 0.564 and soymilk (2, n= 13) = 7.88, p=0.019, Cramer’s V= 0.778.

Discussion: Introducing cow and soymilk earlier than 9 months led to more cases of allergies to these foods compared to introduction after 9 months. Data collected on the other 10 food groups were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Introducing cow and soymilk before 9 months correlated with a greater chance of developing an allergy to those foods in children older than 2. Further research on this topic must be conducted with larger participant groups. From a health perspective, results emphasize the need and responsibility of parents to educate themselves on the introduction of allergen foods to their children.

Permission Type

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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Apr 18th, 3:20 PM Apr 18th, 4:00 PM

Introducing Various Foods During Infancy and the Development of Food Allergies During Toddler/Preschooler Years

Fishbowl

Introduction: Children are developing food allergies that persist into their adult lives. Literature hypothesizes that introducing foods into a child’s diet late increases the risk of developing food allergies. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship of introducing allergy foods within the first nine months to determine if allergen symptoms were observed by the age of two.

Methods: The FDA/CDC Global Opinion Panel Section C of the Infant Feeding Practices Survey was administered to 60 parents of children aged 2-5 participated. Twenty-two responses were returned and analyzed using a Chi-Squared Test of Independence. Parents were recruited by MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) coordinators.

Results: A statistically significant relationship was found between introducing food early (months) and allergy development in 2 of the 12 allergen foods. Cow’s milk (1, n= 18) = 5.73, p=0.017, Cramer’s V= 0.564 and soymilk (2, n= 13) = 7.88, p=0.019, Cramer’s V= 0.778.

Discussion: Introducing cow and soymilk earlier than 9 months led to more cases of allergies to these foods compared to introduction after 9 months. Data collected on the other 10 food groups were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Introducing cow and soymilk before 9 months correlated with a greater chance of developing an allergy to those foods in children older than 2. Further research on this topic must be conducted with larger participant groups. From a health perspective, results emphasize the need and responsibility of parents to educate themselves on the introduction of allergen foods to their children.