FOOD ALLERGIES IN CHILDREN: HOME CARE PRECAUTIONS AND TREATMENT

Home care

If your infant vomits or has cramps or diarrhea after you have introduced a new food into the child’s diet, withdraw the food promptly. This does not necessarily indicate a food allergy, but you should wait (two to four weeks) before reintroducing the food. Add new foods to the child’s diet one at a time, and allow several days between each introduction so that you can be sure that no problems are occurring.

Precautions

• Persistent diarrhea is a clue to malabsorption or an allergic problem.

• If diarrhea persists, temporarily cut milk and milk products out of the child’s diet and substitute clear liquids.

• Certain antibiotic drugs and digestive tract viruses may cause a temporary loss of digestive enzymes, particularly lactase (the enzyme that aids digestion of milk sugar). This enzyme deficiency can last up to six weeks after viral gastroenteritis.

• Symptoms of malabsorption call for a sweat test to rule out cystic fibrosis.

Medical treatment

The doctor diagnoses a food allergy or malabsorption syndrome on the basis of the following: changes in the child’s diet; culture and examination of stools for blood, fat, and starch; analysis of digestive enzymes; biopsy of the intestinal lining; sugar tolerance tests; sweat test; chest X rays; and other factors. Treatment involves a controlled diet and, sometimes, a prescription of digestive enzyme supplements.