Tree Nut Allergy, Egg Allergy, and Asthma in Children

BACKGROUND: Children with food allergies often have concurrent asthma. OBJECTIVE: The authors aimed to determine the prevalence of asthma in children with food allergies and the association of specific food allergies with asthma. METHODS: Parental questionnaire data regarding food allergy, corroborated by allergic sensitization were completed for a cohort of 799 children with food allergies. Multivariate regression analysis tested the association between food allergy and reported asthma. RESULTS: In this cohort, the prevalence of asthma was 45.6%. After adjusting for each food allergy, environmental allergies, and family history of asthma, children with egg allergy (odds ratio [OR] = 2.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3-3.2; P < .01) or tree nut allergy (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.1-3.6; P = .02) had significantly greater odds of report of asthma. CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of asthma in the food-allergic pediatric population. Egg and tree nut allergy are significantly associated with asthma, independent of other risk factors.