In the last decade, the number of children in the U.S. with food allergies has jumped 18 per cent and now an estimated four per cent of children and teens are affected with the some kind of food allergy.

A report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that in 2007 3 million children under the age of 18 had reported a food or digestive allergy in the previous 12 months which is up from 2.3 million children (3.3 per cent) in 1997.

According to the report, eight types of foods account for 90 per cent of all food allergies - eggs, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy and wheat. Allergic reactions to these foods depend on the severity of the reaction but can range from a tingling sensation around the mouth and lips to hives and possibly even death.

Furthermore, the report found that children with food allergies were two to four times more likely to have asthma or other allergies than children without food allergies. The report further indicates food allergies are more common in children than adults and, while some children will outgrow their allergies, others will have them for life.

Additional findings of the report are:

• Rates of food allergy were similar for boys and girls.

• About 4.7 per cent of children under 5 years of age reported a food allergy, compared to 3.7 per cent for children and teens 5 to 17 years old.

• Hispanic children had lower rates of reported food allergy.

• Slightly more than 30 per cent of children with a food allergy also reported a respiratory allergy, compared with only nine per cent of children with no food allergy.

• In 2007, 29 per cent of children with food allergies also reported asthma, compared to 12 per cent of children without a food allergy, and 27 per cent of children with food allergies reported eczema or a skin allergy, compared to only eight per cent of children with no food allergies.

The findings in the report, Food Allergy Among U.S. Children: Trends in Prevalence and Hospitalizations, were derived from statistics from the National Health Interview Survey and the National Hospital Discharge Survey which were conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.