9 Ways To Safely Test Your Infants For Food Allergies
byLindsay E. Mack
Introducing your child to new foods can be a fascinating part of the parenting process. After all, kids can have amazingly strong opinions about apples, sweet potatoes, and avocados, as well as any other food you give them. However, many parents have understandable concerns about the potential for bad reactions to certain foods. There are, fortunately, ways to safely test your infants for food allergies.
If you feel like today's parents have to deal with potential food allergies more than previous generations, you may be on to something. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 1997 to 2007, there was an 18 percent increase in the incidents of reported food allergies in children under the age of 18. And some of these reactions were serious. As further noted by the CDC, from 2004 to 2006, around 9,500 hospital discharges were related to food allergies in children. This is not a case of parental overreaction; food allergies can be very real health concerns.
Although you may be tempted to keep your kid away from peanuts and honey forever, there are ways to safely test your baby's tolerance for certain foods. You may need to enlist the help of your pediatrician or a food allergist, but for the most part testing your kid for potential food allergies involves careful timing, tiny portions, and close observation. Chances are, you can detect any potential food allergies before they become a problem.