TY  - JOUR
A1  - Grabenhenrich, Linus
A1  - Trendelenburg, Valérie
A1  - Bellach, Johanna
A1  - Yürek, Songül
A1  - Reich, Andreas
A1  - Fiandor, Ana
A1  - Rivero, Daniela
A1  - Sigurdardottir, Sigurveig
A1  - Clausen, Michael
A1  - Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G.
A1  - Xepapadaki, Paraskevi
A1  - Sprikkelman, Aline B.
A1  - Dontje, Bianca
A1  - Roberts, Graham
A1  - Grimshaw, Kate
A1  - Kowalski, Marek L.
A1  - Kurowski, Marcin
A1  - Dubakiene, Ruta
A1  - Rudzeviciene, Odilija
A1  - Fernández‐Rivas, Montserrat
A1  - Couch, Philip
A1  - Versteeg, Serge A.
A1  - van Ree, Ronald
A1  - Mills, Clare
A1  - Keil, Thomas
A1  - Beyer, Kirsten
T1  - Frequency of food allergy in school‐aged children in eight European countries—The EuroPrevall‐iFAAM birth cohort
JF  - Allergy
N2  - Background
The prevalence of food allergy (FA) among European school children is poorly defined. Estimates have commonly been based on parent‐reported symptoms. We aimed to estimate the frequency of FA and sensitization against food allergens in primary school children in eight European countries.

Methods
A follow‐up assessment at age 6‐10 years of a multicentre European birth cohort based was undertaken using an online parental questionnaire, clinical visits including structured interviews and skin prick tests (SPT). Children with suspected FA were scheduled for double‐blind, placebo‐controlled oral food challenges (DBPCFC).

Results
A total of 6105 children participated in this school‐age follow‐up (57.8% of 10 563 recruited at birth). For 982 of 6069 children (16.2%), parents reported adverse reactions after food consumption in the online questionnaire. Of 2288 children with parental face‐to‐face interviews and/or skin prick testing, 238 (10.4%) were eligible for a DBPCFC. Sixty‐three foods were challenge‐tested in 46 children. Twenty food challenges were positive in 17 children, including seven to hazelnut and three to peanut. Another seventy‐one children were estimated to suffer FA among those who were eligible but refused DBPCFC. This yielded prevalence estimates for FA in school age between 1.4% (88 related to all 6105 participants of this follow‐up) and 3.8% (88 related to 2289 with completed eligibility assessment).

Interpretation
In primary school children in eight European countries, the prevalence of FA was lower than expected even though parents of this cohort have become especially aware of allergic reactions to food. There was moderate variation between centres hampering valid regional comparisons.
KW  - birth cohort study
KW  - epidemiology
KW  - food allergy
KW  - IgE
KW  - prevalence
Y1  - 2020
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-214746
VL  - 75
IS  - 9
SP  - 2294
EP  - 2308
ER  -