Kids with food allergies are twice as likely to have autism
But having the immune abnormalities doesn’t mean a child will develop the disorder
By
Aimee Cunningham
FOOD ALLERGY LINK A large population-based study finds a connection between allergies, including those to foods, and autism spectrum disorder in kids. But having such an allergy doesn’t mean a child will develop autism, scientists say.
American kids with food allergies are more than twice as likely to have autism spectrum disorder as kids without, a study of national health data finds. The population-based finding adds to experimental evidence that there may be a connection between false steps or overreactions by the immune system and the neurodevelopmental disorder.
Researchers looked only for an association between allergies and autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, among a total of 199,520 children ages 3 to 17 surveyed from 1997 to 2016 as part of the U.S. National Health Interview Survey. The study was not designed to discover what may be behind the link.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/kids-food-allergies-are-twice-likely-have-autism
