Dados do Trabalho

Título

Food Allergy and Epidemiology in a Global Context

Resumo

Rationale: Food allergy (FA) is an adverse reaction to harmless proteins or food antigens.They can be IgE-mediated, non-IgE-mediated or have mixed mechanisms. There seems to be a rise in FA in developed countries, but little is known regarding the impact of this growing trend on developing countries. The objective of this study is to determine if there is a concomitant growth in the incidence of FA in developing countries. Methods: Systematic Literature Review of articles on the databases MedLine (via PubMed), Scielo, BVS, Cochrane and Lilacs. The research strategy used was "food allergy" AND "developing countries" OR "emerging economies" OR "developing world" AND "epidemiology" and no filters were applied. It was rendered in 2772 studies and after the data extraction and the assessment of bias, 23 were selected. Results: Food allergies (FA) are increasing worldwide, especially in developing countries and densely populated metropolitan areas. The westernization of cities has contributed to this growth. However, it is important to note that a direct comparison between countries is not possible due to differences in allergens and diets. Urban areas are known to have a higher incidence of food allergies. Surprisingly, children of employed parents with better socioeconomic conditions tend to have more food allergies. However, racial and ethnic factors do not seem to have a significant effect on the incidence of food allergies. An important piece of information is that children of South Asian and African immigrants born in developed countries have a higher incidence of food allergies. This suggests environmental and genetic factors may play an important role in the development of these allergies. Conclusions: Information comparing food allergies (FA) across countries is still scarce due to the diversity of diets among populations. However, studies have found an association between socioeconomic factors, high population density, westernization, and the incidence of FA.