Allergies are a fact of life for many children and their families. They can range from a mild annoyance to a life-threatening condition. The information herein will help you better understand and manage your child’s allergies.

What are allergies?

Allergies are a type of autoimmune disorder. They arise when a child’s immune system mistakenly attacks otherwise harmless substances. Perceiving these allergens to be a threat, the body reacts, producing an inflammatory response that leads to symptoms. The symptoms people feel are caused by the body’s immune reaction, not the substance itself. Depending on the severity of the allergy, this can range from mild redness and skin or eye irritation to full-blown anaphylactic shock.

Type of allergies

People can be allergic to just about anything, but the most common are food allergies, seasonal allergies (caused by plant pollen), pet allergies, insect allergies, and allergies to various substances.

Why do children develop allergies?

Though the precise cause of allergies is unknown, we know of several things that can trigger an allergy or raise the risk that allergies will develop. First and foremost, overly hygienic environments are contributing to allergies. Kids are spending less time outside and inhabiting overly sterilized environments. With less exposure to the litany of microbes and natural substances, their immune system is inexperienced and more likely to over-react when it encounters unfamiliar but harmless substances.

The overuse of antibiotics and our shrinking microbiome are contributing to allergies in children. (The microbiome refers to the collective of symbiotic bacteria that live on and inside our bodies.) When the body loses a species of bacteria that previously performed useful functions, they may no longer be able to tolerate exposure to certain substances. Lactose intolerance is a prime example of this. A certain species of gut bacteria are required to break down the lactose in milk into useful sugars. When these bacteria are lost, milk makes people sick. This is also why lactose intolerance can come and go depending on one’s habits: If you haven’t drank milk for a while, it might make you sick. Start drinking milk regularly again, however, and any straggling survivors of those bacteria species will regrow, curing your lactose intolerance.

Allergies can also be triggered by illness and chance exposures. For example, a child who is sick may develop an allergy to a food or substance they were exposed to when sick, because their immune system engages in a case of mistaken identity and confuses this other substance for the thing that’s making them sick. For instance, alpha-gal syndrome is a severe meat allergy caused by tick bites. In fighting off the infection from the tick, the immune system learns to attack a sugar molecule found in most mammals but not humans, leading to an allergy to most types of meat.

Do kids outgrow their allergies?

Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Because allergies are driven by an overactive immune response, as a child grows older and their immune system is exposed to more pathogens, it often becomes less reactive to these harmless substances. Thus a child may experience milder reactions or will “outgrow” their allergy entirely.

That said, there’s no guarantee that this will happen. A study that tracked victims of anaphylactic shock (caused by severe allergic reactions) found that 34% of cases involved people over the age of 18. (Reddy, 8-22-2017) So obviously not every person outgrows their allergies. It’s also important to note that allergies can develop at any age.

More Information on allergies in children

The following information will help you better understand and manage your child’s allergies:

• Allergies in the Classroom: School or Child Care Centers
• Allergy Deaths in Children
• Allergy Facts & Statistics
• Pets & Allergies
• Preventing Allergies

References & citations: Allergies in children

Safdar, K. (2019, March 29) “Never mind my allergy, the cat stays,” Wall Street Journal, A1, A11

McGinty, J.C. (2019, April 13) “When it comes to allergies, pollen counts,” Wall Street Journal, A2

Landhuis, E. (2019) “Mouth drops offer peanut protection,” Science News, Sept. 28, Vol. 196(6): 8-9

Sanders, L. (2020) “Gut cell implicated in peanut allergies,” Science News, March 28, 197(6): 7

Engelhaupt, E. (2020) “How to lick cat allergies,” Science News, Feb. 15, Vol. 197(3): 17-21

Marantz-Henig, R. (2020) “The microbiome menagerie,” National Geographic, June, pp. 86-103

Weinhouse, B. (2021) “Something to sneeze at,” Readers Digest, Oct., pp. 47-50

Wallis, C. (2009) “If you give a baby a peanut,” Scientific American, Aug., p. 22

Grant, A. (2009) “Numbers: Allergies,” Discover Magazine, July/Aug., p. 12-13