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Deadly Food Allergies Are on the Rise Among Children. The Cause Isn’t What You Might Think
In February 2023, 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs died from a severe allergic reaction after drinking a hot chocolate from Costa Coffee.
Hannah suffered from allergies to dairy, fish and eggs, and her mother had asked for soy milk, but the hot chocolate contained cows’ milk.
In July 2016, 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died on a flight after eating a Pret a Manger baguette she had bought at Heathrow.
She had a severe allergic reaction to sesame, which had been baked into the bread but wasn’t listed on the ingredients label.
These types of fatal events linked to food allergies seem to be occurring more frequently.
They appear in headlines and have driven a movement to make planes, schools and other restricted environments “nut-free.”
But are food allergies really on the rise, or is our coverage of them merely increasing?
A recent study in the Lancet Public Health journal provides answers.
Led by Paul Turner of Imperial College London, it found that food allergies had doubled between 2008 and 2018.
Most of these affect children.
By reviewing data from GP surgeries in England, the researchers found that across all age groups, food allergies had increased from 0.4% to 1.1% of the population.
California Bans 6 Food Dyes in School Foods
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed a bill over the weekend that will ban six food dyes from food served in the state’s public schools, making it the first state in the U.S. to take such a step.
The California School Food Safety Act bans Red Dye No. 40, Yellow Dye No. 5, Yellow Dye No. 6, Blue Dye No. 1, Blue Dye No. 2 and Green Dye No. 3.
The chemicals have been linked to hyperactivity and neurobehavioral problems in some children.
“As a lawmaker, a parent, and someone who struggled with ADHD, I find it unacceptable that we allow schools to serve foods with additives that are linked to cancer, hyperactivity, and neurobehavioral harms,” says Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), the California state assemblyman who authored the bill.
CDC: Kids Born During the Pandemic Got Fewer Routine Vaccinations
Fewer children born during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic received recommended vaccines compared with those born in the two years before the pandemic, according to CDC data.
Compared with vaccine coverage during 2018 and 2019, estimated coverage for children born in 2020 and 2021 declined by 1.3 to 7.8 percentage points, depending on the vaccine, reported Holly Hill, MD, PhD, of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, and colleagues in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The estimated differences in vaccine coverage by the age of 24 months for children born in 2018-2019 and those born in 2020-2021 were:
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- Influenza vaccine, two or more doses: -7.8 percentage points
- Combined seven-vaccine series: -3.2 percentage points
- Rotavirus vaccine: -2.0 percentage points
- Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTaP) vaccine: -1.8 percentage points for three or more doses; -2.5 percentage points for four or more doses
- Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine: -2.2 percentage points for the primary series; -3.2 percentage points for the full series
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine: -1.8 percentage points for three or more doses; -2.7 percentage points for four or more doses
- Hepatitis A vaccine, one or more doses: -1.6 percentage points
- Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine: -1.7 percentage points
- Poliovirus vaccine: -1.5 percentage points
- Varicella vaccine: -1.3 percentage points
- Hepatitis B vaccine, three or more doses: -1.5 percentage points
“Analyses of [National Immunization Survey-Child] data for earlier birth cohorts have not revealed such widespread declines in routine childhood vaccination coverage,” Hill and co-authors wrote.
Drug Overdose Deaths Take a Growing Toll on US Children
2% of all children nationwide — had lost a family member to a drug overdose as of 2019, according to a study by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and Pennsylvania State University.
The findings, published in the American Journal of Public Health, shed light on the often-overlooked emotional toll of overdose deaths on the youngest and most vulnerable members of society and provide the first concrete data quantifying its impact.
Since 2006, opioid-related deaths have been rising faster than those caused by other substances.
In 2019, opioid overdose deaths were 2.4 times more common than non-opioid-related deaths.
By 2022, they had become three times more common.
The study uncovered a troubling trend:
About 2% of children born in 2009 lost a family member to an overdose by age 10, compared to just over 1% for those born in 2001.
Dentist Warns How Mouth Breathing Is Damaging Your Teeth
Breathing through your mouth is bad for your teeth, especially when you do it at night.
As we edge into sniffle season, breathing through our noses isn’t always an option.
But often, mouth breathing is an unconscious choice and one that is worth unlearning.
Newsweek spoke to dentist Dr. Alex Foo at Aria Dental to learn why mouth breathing is so bad for our health and how to stop it.
“Mouth breathing is bad for your teeth day and night but is especially bad at night,” Foo told Newsweek. “At night, saliva production decreases, and mouth breathing makes it worse, so you get a dry mouth. Saliva is what neutralizes acids and washes away food particles, so without it, bacteria can thrive, and you get cavities and gum disease.”
Mouth breathing for extensive periods may also cause physical changes to the structure of your face, especially in children.
“Chronic mouth breathing can change the facial structure, especially in children, which can lead to long-term dental alignment problems and speech difficulties,” Foo said. “It can also result in chronic bad breath (halitosis), which can further damage oral health and confidence.”
Can Addressing Gut Issues Treat Long COVID in Children?
Four years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors and researchers are still seeking ways to help patients with long COVID, the persistent and often debilitating symptoms that can continue long after a COVID-19 infection.
In adults, the most common long COVID-19 symptoms include fatigue and brain fog, but for children the condition can look different.
A study published last month suggests preteens are more likely to experience symptoms such as headaches, stomach pain, trouble sleeping, and attention difficulties.
Even among children, effects seem to vary by age. “There seems to be some differences between age groups, with less signs of organ damage in younger children and more adultlike disease in adolescents,” says Petter Brodin, professor of pediatric immunology at Imperial College London.
While vast sums have been devoted to long COVID research — the U.S. National Institutes of Health have spent more than a billion dollars on research projects and clinical trials — research into children with the condition has been predominantly limited to online surveys, calls with parents, and studies of electronic health records.
This is in spite of a recent study suggesting that between 10 and 20% of children may have developed long COVID following an acute infection, and another report finding that while many have recovered, some still remain ill three years later.
