A study has found that children with food allergies such as peanuts, crabs, milk, and eggs are more likely to break bones.
A joint research team led by Professor Yeong-Geon Yeong-Hee of Kyung Hee University Medical School (Professor Lee Seung-Won of Sungkyunkwan University Medical School, Professor Shin Jae-Il of Yonsei University Medical School, and Professor Shin Yun-Ho from Cha University of Medicine) revealed that children diagnosed with ‘food allergy’ have a higher risk of fracture than those without.
The results of this study were recently published in the international journal ‘Allergy’.
BACKGROUND OF THE DEVICE A fracture is a fracture caused by an external force, and refers to a condition where the continuity of a bone is completely or incompletely broken. Depending on the amount of external force, different types of bones (horizontal, oblique, spiral, etc.) can show cracked fracture lines.
In particular, when there are multiple fracture lines, it is classified as a ‘communal fracture’, and when the broken bone protrudes from the skin, it is called an ‘open fracture’.
When such a fracture occurs, the soft tissue surrounding the bone is also often damaged, and children may experience growth-related complications.
An allergy is an overreaction of the body’s immune system to a foreign substance that is usually harmless.
Food allergy can be caused by food allergens (allergens), such as nuts such as peanuts, crustaceans such as crabs, milk, eggs and fish.
The research team carried out a survey and analyzed 1.78 million children registered with the National Health Insurance Service between 2009 and 2015 to confirm the relationship between fractures and food allergies in children.
As a result, children’s food allergy patients were found to have an 11% higher fracture risk than general children.
In particular, the more severe the food allergy symptoms, the higher the risk of fracture. The risk of fracture in children with mild symptoms was 9%, but in children with severe allergies plus anaphylaxis (shock), the risk of fracture was 21%.
In addition, the risk of fracture increased as the number of hospital visits for food allergy was three times or more or the age at diagnosis was low.
Cuts in children are dangerous because they can damage the growth plates (epidemic plates). For a young bone to grow into a large bone, it must continue to make bone in the growth plate. However, when bones are damaged in an accident, growth fails, resulting in shortened or bent limbs. These growth plate injuries occur in 15-30% of fractures in children, and the longer the growth phase, the worse the outcome.
Professor Yeong-gun Yeon said, “It is difficult for children with food allergies to consume nutrients evenly due to a wide range of food avoidance methods. Professor Yeon emphasized, “Therefore, children diagnosed with food allergies must correctly diagnose the causative food and try alternative foods to avoid nutritional imbalance.”
Daeik Kwon medical journalist dkwon@hankookilbo.com
