A study that will be published in the July issue of Clinical
Pediatrics found that children living in the city are more prone
to food allergies than those who live in rural areas. The lead
author of the study is Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an assistant professor
of pediatrics at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine and a physician at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's
Hospital of Chicago. He says, "We have found for the first time
that higher population density corresponds with a greater
likelihood of food allergies in children. This shows that
environment has an impact on developing food allergies. Similar
trends have been seen for related conditions like asthma. The
big question is — what in the environment is triggering them? A
better understanding of environmental factors will help us with
prevention efforts." As the study's authors point out, food
allergies can be fatal. In their study, nearly 40 percent of the
children with allergies had experienced a life-threatening
reaction to a food item.