A Link Between Children with Food Allergies and Autism

A significant and positive association has linked common allergic conditions to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children, according to a new study.

Conducted by a research team at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, the study found that the odds ratio (OR) of ASD increased in children also diagnosed with food allergy, respiratory allergy, and skin allergy.

Researchers led by Guifeng Xu, of the college’s Epidemiology department, conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study of data provided by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 1997-2016. The analysis featured 199,520 children aged from 3-17 years old (mean age 10.21 years).

ASD has become an increasingly prevalent condition among US children, researchers noted, increasing from 0.67% of the population in 2000 to 1.46% in 2012. Though there’s still limited understanding of its definite pathology, clinicians have indicated some driving factors.

“The etiology of ASD involves both genetic and environmental risk factors, and it is estimated that up to 40% to 50% of variance in ASD liability might be attributed to environmental risk factors,” researchers wrote.

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